State's Rights is a concept that dates to the very earliest times of government in what would become The United States. When the British Colonies of North America broke from Great Britain, they declared themselves free and independent States deriving their sovereignty from the People. This form of government (bottom-up) differed from the government they rejected (top-down). They did this, in part because they realized that the restraints of time and distance would always limit access of individuals to their representatives in a central government. In the 18th Century transport and communications were far harder than today so these problems were worse.