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Federalist No. 10 Analysis

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Federalist Paper no. 10 was one of the most important of the Federalist Papers. It was written by James Madison and contends that a large national government can successfully protect freedom better than smaller, more local governments. Madison wrote that small groups pursuing their own personal interests at the sacrifice of the national interests, otherwise called factions, always bring an end to popular government. Factions are created when individuals have varying opinions about religion, government, military, political leaders, and many other subjects. Madison’s argument was that these factions were more easily controlled by the national government, instead of local governments. The national government would be concerned about the whole nation, whereas, local governments were more involved in interests that prevailed in their local area. For instance, if farmers in a local area far outnumbered manufacturers, the local government would work toward the interests of agriculture versus the interests of manufacturing. In other words, as stated in our textbook “By the People: Debating American Government,” Madison introduced a modern, realistic view that stated one should “expect people to pursue their own self-interest.” …show more content…

Since this is nearly impossible, government is necessary. In a large republic, the national government will always have larger, more varied interests than the local governments. As there are more interests, there will also be an abundance of factions. With an abundance of factions, no single faction will have the ability to take control for their own self-interests, resulting in the factions having to compromise and counterbalance each other for a more diverse purpose. Therefore, Madison advocated for a large

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