Federalist Papers 10 and 51 served to explain the union as a safeguard against factions and insurrection and to explain how the structure of this new union must encompass the ability to furnish proper checks and balances between the different departments within itself respectively. These articles contain absolutely no higher meaning concerning Plato’s beliefs of the True, Good and the Beautiful. The articles are merely rhetoric used to rationalize the benefits of a new system, explain how the new union will be constructed and most crucial to the essays, sway public opinion to support the ratification of the new constitution. Madison does not wish to reach the True, the Good, or the Beautiful in Article 10. He simply wishes to establish a system in which the detrimental effects of factions on the whole government are reduced and kept in check. The form of government he proposes himself is not entirely just, as the formation of factions within the government can be seen through political parties. If there are two groups of politicians with differing ideals concerning the rights of property holders, one for the large property owners and the other for the small property owners, we see here the development of a more refined faction under the guise of the label ‘party.’ Madison is not adopting a view of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful; he is simply offering a pragmatic solution, the ratification of a new constitution, to the problems caused by factions and does not present actual solutions to the specific problems. Although the literacy rate in the late 17oo’s was celebrated to be 60% out of an estimated population of 3 million, the level of education that citizens received can be assumed to be very elementary (Schlossberg). Th... ... middle of paper ... ...tes a façade of one who understands every fiber of political structure to persuade the ignorant American public to support the ratification of a new United States Constitution. Works Cited Madison, James. “The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection”. 23 November 1787. The Library of Congress. Web. 19 September 2013. : Madison, James. “The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments”. 8 February 1788. The Library of Congress. Web. 19 September 2013. : Schlossberg, Tatiana. “The State of Publishing: Literacy Rates”. 2 February 2011. Timothy McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Web. 21 September 2013. :
Exceptions to these rules are often required because of a lack of knowledge of the skills and expertise need to serve in government positions. For example the branches should strive to be independent from the other two branches. With each branch seeking to follow their own agenda rather than being controlled by others as they serve their sentences. Madison then proceeds to address the significant need of constitutional safeguards to prevent the gradual concentration of power. For example “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of man must be connected with the constitutional rights.” This provides us protection from those in the government and those who abuse their power because since we aren’t angels we will abuse power if given the chance and opportunity to. One of the greatest problems the government will face is controlling those they govern and themselves. Thus dependence on the peoples will is the government’s main source of power with other precautions. These precautions include the division of power within each branch to prevent any one branch from becoming unstoppable. However it isn’t possible to ensure that all branches receive equal power of defense. In republican governments, the legislative branch
The Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers played a major role in US History. They dealt with many problems in politics. The papers were made after the Revolutionary war. People started to worry that the government would not last under the Articles of Confederation. Without having a backup plan just yet, some delegates met up and created the Constitution. The constitution had to be ratified before it became the rule of all the land. The Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers discuss whether the constitution should be approved or not. Some things Anti-Federalist and Federalists argued was a strong national government, a standing army, and whether or not the constitution should be ratified and why.
Federalist No. 10 and No. 51 were a series of essays written by James Madison, arguing for the ratification of the U.S Constitution. Before the ratification, the Articles of Confederation only bounded the thirteen colonies, uniting them as military alliance rather than a cohesive government. The central government lacked authority; the national government could not collect taxes or force states to comply with their laws. The lack of a strong central government made it difficult for states to operate effectively as one single nation. The state legislatures had too much power under the Articles, so Madison’s goal was to restrain the power of the states. Madison, Jay, and Hamilton, wrote the Federalist Papers to encourage the citizens to support the ratification of the Constitution. Federalist No.10 and No. 51 are highly regarded in comparison to the rest of the essays. Federalist No.10 is the introduction to Madison’s contributions of the series. Madison addresses the question of "factions" and disastrous effect to our liberties. Madison argues that a strong and large republic would best control the effects of factions, rather than a smaller republic. Madison also argues for representation in government rather than direct democracy. With delegates, the passions of the people would-be filtered, and only the ideas that are good for the majority of the people would prevail. Madison expands his argument in Federalist No.10 by having three separate branches of government, the judicial, legislative, and executive. Each branch would be independent and have equal power. Madison also notes that people are fundamentally flawed, so government needs to be able to control their passions. Madison states, “If men were angels, no government would b...
9. Hamilton, Alexander and James Madison, "Federalist Papers: The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments," The New York Packet, No. 51, 1788.
Within the document Madison states, "In order to lay a due foundation for that separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government, which to a certain extent is admitted on all hands to be essential to the preservation of liberty, it is evident that each department should have a will of its own" (Madison, The Federalist, No.52. R83). Through the quote Madison states that the government is split into branches that act as their own separate entities. By having these branches be completely separate from each other, the government can assure freedoms and liberties for the people. Madison explains how having multiple branches protects the people by stating, "It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of another part" (Madison, The Federalist, No.52. R84). Madison states that by having separate parts of the government, one part can fight against the corruption of another. Having the government be separated into parts can also keep the entire government from being corrupted instead of just a fraction of it. Madison 's paper states that having the government be separated into parts can protect the liberties of the
Madison begins perhaps the most famous of the Federalist papers by stating that one of the strongest arguments in favor of the Constitution is the fact that it establishes a government capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions. Madison defines that factions are groups of people who gather together to protect and promote their special economic interests and political opinions. Although these factions are at odds with each other, they frequently work against the public interests, and infringe upon the rights of others.
Madison illustrates the concept of power the government will have and sort of corrects any misjudgments about the potential government. Madison points out that if humans all had good intentions then there will be no need for the law. This allows the people to see that they need a solid government. He goes back to tell the people that they must give the government a chance to help them and rule them in the right direction. The governmental branches to be creates will all carry equal amounts of power, he reassures that the executive himself will not carry as much power as it seems. Madison describes the two methods of avoiding evil as; one the strong government that will be created, independent of from the influence of those who possess bad objectives and two, because society is diverse, the little division will not majorly influence the government. The idea of Madison’s speech revolves around the freedom of society, but with freedom comes power in the people, which he reassures the government will keep at bay. We can see that the Federalist papers number 10 and 51 helps us to understand the meaning behind the Constitution and why it was
The first argument in the paper federalist 47, Madison was writing the rebuttal the idea of total separation. Since we just came out of what we will call the tyranny, “people” were fighting so that we won’t end up in the same situation when just one person had all the power so the conventional way to go was to totally separate branches, leaders etc. and this model was gotten out of a critics of the proposed Constitution by Montesquieu, a celebrated political critic who stated, when speaking of the British constitution, “there can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates” or “if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers”
On November 14, 1878, Alexander Hamilton took to address the residence of the State of New York in support of ratification of the U.S. Constitution. He pens the Federalist Papers: No 6 Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States, in a plea to bring support for the unification of the states. He skillfully uses pathos to appeal the reader, while providing logos to support his initial call for unification. Hamilton’s words are well thought out and logical in his presentation of the factual data, supporting the call that separate states cannot succeed as separate entities, they must unify under one nation and one federal government.
Thomas Pangle, in “The Great Debate: The Federalist Response to the Anti-Federalist Challenge,” examined the relationship between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists to explain the Federalist Papers defense of the U.S. Constitution. He described these papers as a type of political theory that explains what our Constitution was framed in order to achieve.
This paper is organized by James Madison explaining the different methods violence between factions and/or a group of people can be stopped or prevented with a strong united Union. Federalist Paper No. 10 does fit into a larger series of Federalist Papers. It fits in the larger series because like the other papers, it promotes the ratification of
Between 1780 and1787, individual liberty and rights changed as federalists stopped believing the first Articles of confederation, although anti-federalist were reluctant of the ratification, they pushed for the introduction of the bill of rights. With the ratification people had a voice in the matter, which in turn, emphasized popular democratic tendencies in the United States after the Revolution. Citizen’s involvement in this ratification during the 18th century contributed to the growth of popular democracy in government.
With the new constitution written, the debate over it arose quickly. In the light of the debate, the Federalists wrote The Federalists Papers to present arguments why this new document would enforce an effective government, unlike the Articles of Confederation. A major concern addressed was representation in a country with a large population. Citizens were concerned that they would have difficulty expressing individual opinions and influencing the government. James Madison wrote “Federalist Paper 10” in order to address the concerns in regard to the democratic political process. In American population at the time were deeply concerned with the issue that majority faction present. Madison proposed that by “extending[ing] the sphere … [there is] a greater variety of parties and interests … [and] it [is] less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens” (Madison 78). Essentially, Madison argues that with a more diverse group of people, there will always be a need to negotiate and compromise in order to reach an answer that is satisfying to all interest parties. As an advocate for a large
In Federalist Paper No. 10, Madison writes that “a well-constructed Union” has one especially important task to accomplish. This task is the ability to “break and control the violence of faction.” Through use of the word faction, Madison means, “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated 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” (Madison p. 1). I fully agree with Madison’s assessment on factions. If a faction grows to acquire the power of majority, then it will have the ability to oppress the majority factions. In cases like these, the wishes and beliefs of everybody
In Federalist #10, Madison argues that factions are dangerous for a well-formed government. He claims that factions are an inevitable part of human nature, that needs to be monitored by the government in order to control the damage that they cause. Publius states that as long as men have different amounts of wealth, property, and have different opinions, there will continue to be factions. Madison claims that there are only two ways to control a faction, to remove its causes or to control its effects. To remove the causes of a faction, you either destroy liberty or force every citizen to share the same opinions and beliefs. Therefore, the only logical way to control factions are to control their causes so that the majority factions don’t impose