Domestic Faction And Insurrection: Article Analysis

I cannot begin to tell you how horrible and difficult I found this essay to be. Besides the fact that we don’t even talk like that anymore, the people writing this stuff are the elite of high society so they have a high education level. They are talking about government and that’s about all I know or understand. So I have to go find other papers that will explain what the hell this guy is talking about. And finally what I understood was that Madison says that when people get together in an organized group it can cause trouble for the government. The fundamental main point of federalist paper #10 is that factions are very damaging to the government, the constitution is established to provide damage control. I now know that I belong to the Anti-federalist

The Federalists are, no doubt, trying to help to build America’s government in the benefit of the citizens. The government should have a Central department where the power is able to help the country function properly and smoothly. The Federalists have made it possible by providing the Constitution. This piece of document helps describe the roles the Central Government should have. The constitution is an important piece of document to describe major roles of the Central Government. The constitution is a work of art in the views of the Federalists, and it is proven to show how the Constitution is able to convert our country into a beneficial government. The Constitution explains the significance of each section and how the power is distributed between the Central Government. The Federalists had to create the Constitution in order for the weakness of the Article Of Confederation to never occur again.

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” (Madison Fed 51). Madison’s Federalist Papers outlined how James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay believed the government should be and needed to be organized and run, or government would be destroyed. Federalist 10 identified the need for two factions, where the ambitions of one faction could be counteracted by the ambition of the second faction. The fear of the tyranny of the king of Britain lay fresh in the minds of the founders, and did not want to be governed by the tyranny of a majority. Two methods were outlined in Federalist 10 to cull this fear. The first option is

“What stronger evidence can be given of the want of energy in our governments than these disorders [Shay’s Rebellion]? If there exists not a power to check them, what security has a man for life, liberty, or property?” In this small excerpt taken from George Washington's letter to James Madison in November 5, 1786 we can observe how the Articles of Confederation is taking a negative toll in the newly born independent country. As a result of the poorly formed government established by the Articles of Confederation, rebellion began to arise amongst the states such as Shay’s Rebellion. As seen in the excerpt, because of the states not having a greater authority to check on them, many of the states imposed unfair tariffs and laws amongst its citizens, causing disorder and conflict.

The Federalist Papers were 85 essays that were published in 1787 and 1788. They were anonymous and always signed by “Publius.” Publius was actually 3 men, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. They wrote the papers to convince the people of New York to vote to ratify the Constitution. These essays were published in newspapers throughout the state of New York. Federalist 10 was written by James Madison and was titled The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (continued). This essay was a continuation of Federalist 9. Federalists like James Madison and Alexander Hamilton thought that if the states continued to maintain complete control, each state would become its own nation, which would leave the U.S. bankrupt. They believe that a strong central government would have the ability to stop this from occurring. Factions were James Madison’s worst fear. Madison believed that factions were what were going to keep states divided and more likely to turn to individual nations. James Madison’s opinions are correct.

With the creation of the Articles remained the lack of a strong central authority to resolve disputes between the states. To organize the states for the collective good, including the organization of a militia, was crucial to the development of the Constitutional Convention (Hamilton et al., 2008). The aftermath of Shay’s Rebellion reinforced the fears of national leaders about the dangers of ineffective state governments and of popular democracy out of control. In the climate of economic turmoil and repressions, the Philadelphian convention was conned to prescribe solutions to the Articles of Confederation. Although the initial thought was instructing delegates to propose revisions for the Articles of Confederation, instead, they wrote an entirely new constitution instead (Hamilton et al., 2008)

The primary source is Federalist paper No. 10, which is a the first of James Madison’s contributions to the series of essays known as the Federalist Papers. This essay is a highly regarded paper among the collection. The Federalist No. 10 is merely rhetoric used to rationalize the benefits of a new system of government, explain how the new union will be constructed and most crucial to the essay, sway public opinion to support the ratification of the new constitution. This particular primary source is imperative to understanding the complexity of the United States government at the time of its birth as well as now. Madison makes an argument that the expansion of the federal government is necessary to protect liberty against the excess of democracy. The document reveals the advantages of a Republic and serves as an explanation as to why the U.S. espouses a Republican form of government and the Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation was a loose “league of friendship” between the thirteen colonies that would create a confederation in contrast to Great Britain 's unitary system. While the Articles of Confederation helped establish a systemic role in trying to unify many of the states under a weak central government, it later created many more problems than solutions. One of them being that Congress had no ability to propose taxes to deal with war debts and running the government. Another weakness was that Congress did not have the ability to regulate commerce among states and foreign nations which hurt Congress’s credibility. One of the most considerable weaknesses of Congress under the Articles of Confederation was its failure to provide for a strong central government. The Articles of Confederation was created to not compare with the totalitarian regime of the British and made sure of not creating a strong central government. The problem was that without a strong central government it eliminated all sovereignty that the central government had, giving increased sovereignty to states which lead to increased chaos. It is seen that Shays Rebellion was that nail in the coffin of The Articles. Lead by David Shay a group of farmers who had served in the Continental Army marched to Springfield, Massachusetts to stop the state court from foreclosing on the veterans farms. Congress’s failure in being able to formulate a militia and stop the disgruntled farmers was the end of The

When debating the Constitution, the Founding Fathers were concerned with factions and their impact on society. Many feared that the government would not effectively mitigate the effects of factions. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and other Federalists argued in support of a confederate republic because direct democracies would not be able to protect society from factions. Madison states, “in the extent and proper structure of the Union, therefore, we behold a Republican remedy for the diseases most incident to Republican Government” (173-174). Their argument is void in that their definition of a faction is one-sided and the examples they use to support their argument on factions are superficial. However, the Federalists effectively communicate that confederate republics mitigate the harmful effects of factions better than pure democracies.

The writers of the federalist papers addressed this issue and many more. They knew that the newly formed union was in danger of breaking apart, and it needed a firm and fair central government to keep it intact. Knowing that the federalist and anti-federalist were largely supported by two different groups and different interests, the federalist papers included the idea to set up a system of checks and balances that we still see in today constitution. Opposing interests both economically and politically could be worked out by using a representative form of congress. There legislation could be vetoed by judicial review and presidential veto, thus setting up our current three branches of government. The system that the federalist wanted to place also helped anti-federalist see the good that could come from a new constitution. Checks and Balances would set up clear powers of what the federal government could and could not do while protecting states rights and individual rights. Madison also had a plan for the Bill of Rights included in the federalist papers, but it would not be passed until

(Document 2) This quote illustrates that there was no way to prevent the branches (executive, judicial, legislative) from abusing their powers. The anti-federalists feared what this strong central government would become. Reasonably, if the constitution was ratified, the federalists would have endless control. The anti federalists feared the government would become a monarchy. Perhaps the biggest argument was mentioned in The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the adoption of the Federal Constitution, “it is the opinion of this convention that certain amendments and alterations in the said Constitution would remove the fears and quiet the apprehensions of many of the good people of the commonwealth….powers not expressly delegated by the constitution… are reserved to several states.” (Document 6) This quote states that the powers that were not given to the original constitution would now be given to the states. Basically, if there was any right or law not originally in the constitution the states were given the right to adjust and look after it.

As territorial expansion continued, the inability of the Articles of Confederation to control even a small state like Rhode Island narrowed their chances to control the entire new nation. Rhode Island had the option “to reject the recommendation of Congress” (Doc A), seemingly giving all states the right to ignore Congress’ commands. The other way around, when discussing the American army, the Congress had “the inability… to pay their demands” (Doc C). Without the ability to fulfil a citizen’s requests, the states were left to control themselves independently. Additionally, the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation meant “that the better kind of people… will be led by the insecurity of property, the loss of confidence in their rulers, and the want of public faith and rectitude” (Doc G). The Articles of Confederation couldn’t hold any power in the states, couldn’t fulfil states’ requests, and people would lose confidence in the government’s ability to maintain the society. This absence of government connection to both the states and the people forced the farming class towards what was known as Shays’ Rebellion. Due to a lack of central government, each state could tax the crop exchange between states, as well as issue their own currency. Farmers of western Massachusetts were tired of the state lacking these important aspects, and rebelled despite the rebellion’s imminent downfall. Although seemingly unsuccessful, the rebellion proved the faults in the Articles of Confederation. Civic virtue, which was supposed to drive the new nation, was insufficient. Finally, the split between the Articles of Confederation and the states directly influenced the split in political parties. While the Federalists believed the strong central government would help secure

These people agreed on the Constitution as they believed that it would strengthen the federal government. The reason behind their belief of a stronger federal government was their fear of too much power given to the people. They wanted people who feared the Constitution to know that they will not regret the ratification of the Constitution. Most importantly on their side, they want both sides to be happy. The evidence that supports these claims are, “...not invested with more powers than indispensably necessary to perform the functions of a good government.” (Document 4), “These powers...are so distributed...that it can never be in danger of degenerating the monarchy.” (Document 4), and “Each individual then must contribute such a share of his rights as is necessary for attaining that security that is essential to freedom.” (Document 6). This evidence proves that the federalists are making sure that everyone is content with their rights. They are also assuring the anti federalists that the federal government will not abuse power and they will not take over their

The major fear that encouraged the creation of the Articles of Confederation was that the Federal government would have too much power. With this newly written government of 1781, most of the power would be in hands of the states. However, the Articles of Confederation proved to be ineffective. The American Government lacked the power to keep British forces out of United States in spite of declaring complete independence after the war. Under the Articles, the government did not have the power to pay for taxes which caused issues across the country.

We needed a new Constitution badly for our foundling of a nation. The pressure of everything falling apart weighed heavily on the founders in that day, something had to be done to save America from disassembling after our triumphant separation from England. The Articles of Confederation simply weren’t working. Originally, the purpose of the Articles was to give as much power to the states as possible while still uniting them (text 48). The biggest problem was that thought the federal government could recommend and create policies, they could not enforce them, specifically if the states refused them. (text 48) Furthermore, the government was weak, with no real leadership and additionally, could not freely gather revenue from the states and suffered from this. (text 49) What finally pushed our country over the edge was Shays’ Rebellion, a protest of farmers led by Daniel Shays when they demanded change after being heavily taxed to recompense for the wartimes cost, but the government had no response, leading to an attack on state militia. (text 49) So thus, a Constitutional Convention was convened. Plenty disagreed, and these people were called the Anti-Federalists, and believed the document gave the government too