Federalist Papers 10 and 51

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The Federalist Papers are articles and essays that were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to promote the ratification of the United States Constitution. The eighty-five essays outlined the way that the new government would operate. The Federalist Papers were published in the New York City newspapers under the pen name Publius, they emerged from late 1787 through 1788. The authors of the Federalist Papers explained why this type of government was the best choice for the United States of America. The Federalist Papers were used to persuade the people to accept the new constitution. The people for the United States Constitution were known as Federalist, while people opposing the Constitution were known as Anti-federalist. To persuade the Anti-Federalist, James Madison wrote Federalist Paper number ten explaining a weakness with the Articles of Confederation. Federalist Paper ten was published on November 22, 1787. Number ten lays out how the writers of the constitution defined the form of government that would protect minority rights from organized and united factions that intended to pass the legislation injurious to the liberty of the minority or detrimental to the good of the country. Madison stated, “A faction was a number of citizens, whether it is a majority or minority, who were united and activated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” There are two ways to get rid of the causes of factions, or political parties. The first way of removing these causes is to destroy the liberty essential to their existence. The second way to get rid of the causes is to give everyone the exact same o... ... middle of paper ... ... to the states. The Articles of Confederation was a plan of government that was based on the principles that were fought for in the American Revolutionary War. Even though The Articles of Confederation were based upon principles we fought for, it contained major flaws. The government had no power of national taxation and had no power to control trade. The biggest weakness of The Articles of Confederation was that it had no direct origin in the people, the states were in control. Each and every state had the power to collect its own taxes, issue currency, and provide for its own military. The Articles of Confederation was a transition between the Revolutionary War and the Constitution. Without The Articles of Confederation it would have been impossible to create the United States Constitution, mistakes were made with the first, and fixed later with the Constitution.

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