Final answer:
States cannot take over a federal institution due to the Constitution's delineation of powers between the state and federal governments. Article I, Section 10 details these limitations to ensure national unity and prevent the undermining of federal authority.
Step-by-step explanation:
States are denied the power to take over a federal institution because the Constitution sets clear boundaries between state and federal powers. To prevent conflicts and ensure national unity, Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution specifically denies certain powers to state governments, such as coining money, taxing imports and exports, maintaining their own armies, and engaging in wars or treaties independently of the federal government.
The Founding Fathers believed these restrictions were necessary to prevent state actions from undermining the authority of the national government. Furthermore, the Constitution prohibits both levels of government from enacting policies that would violate personal freedoms or disrupt the balance of power between the federal and state systems.
These limitations are a key ingredient in the principle of limited government and the rule of law, both of which are fundamental to the United States governmental system. As a part of the federal system, states have their own reserved powers, but these cannot extend to areas specifically withheld from them by the Constitution or granted exclusively to the federal government.