James Madison's Contribution To The Federalist

Madison’s primary focus throughout the beginning of this paper is factions. He holds a deep disdain for them as he thinks that they solely focus on themselves, while hurting other Americans, which is evident in this quote, (“…united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the

In “Federalist #10”, Madison describes the dangerous effects that factions can have on Republican government and on its people. Madison defines a faction as a group of citizens who unite under a shared cause, and work against other groups in order to achieve their means. Their means of achieving their goals may achieve adverse effects upon the rights of other citizens. Put in more modern terms, a faction could be reasonably compared to a special-interest group. The sort of faction that most endangers the liberty inherent in United States society are factions that contain a majority of the whole. The weakness of a popular government is its susceptibility to the effects of factions. However, a well-constructed Union provides numerous

According to Madison, there are two ways to control a faction- remove its cause and then control its effects. As far as removing the causes of the faction, Madison believed this would destroy the liberty which is essential to its existence saying this would be “worse than the disease” and the second would mean giving every citizen the same opinions, passions as well as the same

The only way to manage faction is to remove its causes and to control its effects. By removing its causes Madison believes that liberty will be destroyed, or that by giving every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests, would be impossible because people can never all be the same. Madison wanted the United States to be a republic, a form of democracy in which power is vested in representatives, so there will be a greater number of citizens represented and we will also be able to have more control over the factions effects.

But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts fire its destructive agency,” (Document A). Arguing that factions are only preventable by the abolishment of liberty, Madison reasons that factions are a necessary evil to the functioning of our political system, as liberty is essential to democracy. There are always going to be groups of people with varying opinions, however for a republic to truly work these factions are necessary, no matter what form they come in. For example, unions and corporations may form an opinion and attempt to share it with others but there is no way to prevent this without jeopardizing their liberties. Corporations and unions are made up of citizens, citizens who share similar views and want to share their ideas, they have the same rights and liberties as any other citizens and have the right to free speech.

Upon its founding in 1776 the United States has undergone two constitutions, the first being the Articles of Confederation, with the second being our modern Constitution. The Articles of Confederation was adopted on November 15, 1777 and ran the country until June 21, 1788; the date our constitution was ratified. The intentions for our constitutions, according to our Founding Fathers, was to limit and govern the powers of those who limit and govern the state itself.

The Federalist Papers Number 10 is written by James Madison and explains the necessity of the Constitution to protect our country from factions. A faction is “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 aggregate interests of the community (Publius, 72).” Publius states that there are two ways to get rid of factions. The first way to eliminate a faction is to take the Liberty away from all of the people in the faction. The other way to cure a faction is to give everyone the same opinion. Both of this solutions are not possible

Before the signing of the Constitution, Madison had several fears of the precedents that he and his country would set for the nation for the following years. During the critical period of history, Madison was extremely cautious on the proceedings of the congress. In Federalist Number 10, he argues under an alias that factions would be detrimental to liberties of Americans. Looking back on history, it is easy to see that factions have not had the effects that Madison had once feared; however, a few have had several negative effects that have threatened certain groups of people, and others have led to corruption in congress.

Through 1789 to 1816, the United States faced a difficult time becoming a stable nation. England and France caused distinct problems for the U.S and the four presidential administrations who tried their best to solve those problems. However, the two presidents Jefferson and Madison were members of the republican party, they had principles and philosophies of their own that were very different than the views of the federalist. Even though both the Federalist and the Democratic-republican approached the situations in a well respected manner, the Federalist were more wise with their decisions causing both Jefferson and Madison to leave the republican party to join the federalist. The act of impressments cause Jefferson and american merchants to

In James Madison's Federalist no. 10 he states that it takes a strong union to be able to break and control the violence against factions (The Federalist). Madison’s Federalist no. 10 was written at the time when the US government was small and weak (The Federalist). So the Us government could have been easily toppled by a faction. How have factions caused challenges and animosity in modern day America When factions are brought up in politics people think of the animosity that is created by factions in their pursuit for change. But today we don't really see animosity when factions try to make change for their personal interest.

One of the biggest sources that factions come from are from the distribution of land. There are two main ones, those with lots and land and those with little land. Even though these groups conflict, the government is obliged to guard the interests of each group. Madison stated two ways to control factions, which were to remove its causes and controlling its effect. Madison says next that he worries about corruption of members of the new government, but says it is less likely because representative will be chosen by a large population. He also discusses the differences between a republic and a democracy, along with that the main goal of the Constitution is to make all 13 states secure from threats and invasion.

Federalist Number 10 is an essay written by James Madison as the tenth of The Federalist Papers, a series arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. James Madison also quoted “Those which are to remain in the state government are numerous and indefinite.” This quote is saying there are an enormous amount staying in the government and that amount is never going to leave.

The Framer’s notion of a republic, or democratic republic form of government, rested on the necessity to limit the formation and success of factions. Yet, as Dahl argued, the irony of Madison’s aversions to factions is that, not long after the ratification of the

This federalist paper was written by James Madison most likely in 1788. In this letter he addresses the concerns of some that the Constitution will endanger the people by granting too much power to the federal government and usurping power from the states. In the first paragraph Madison asks many questions of the reader which all infer that his point is that the states will indeed lose some of their sovereignty, but it is necessary for the happiness of the citizens. He argues, essentially, that the federal government must be granted the actual capacity to do what it is every state wants it to do, such as protect them from foreign enemies. Madison assures the audience that the amount of power he is suggesting granting to a centralized government

In Federalist Paper No.10, Madison defines factions as groups of people who have a common self-interest. They would be different to the individual rights of other citizens because they were involved with their own benefits. He states that factions are inherent to human nature and citizens are no longer living under a state of liberty. Madison states, liberty is to faction what air is to fire , this means that with out liberty there cannot be any factions. By destroying the liberty, which is essential to its existence, the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests. The difference between those who have and those who don’t would always be in existence, and is in fact one of the most common unavoidable cause of factions. Individuals will always continue to associate themselves with those who are on the same level, as long as we have different property and economic statues.