“The Federalist,” written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison under the surname ‘Publius,’ attempts to convince the American people that a republican government would be beneficial to both the people and the United States as a whole. Since ‘Publius’ is, in actuality, three different people, one would expect to find some discrepancies between authors. However, in analyzing “The Federalist,” Madison and Hamilton present a unified front – in order to control the effects of factions, they agree that a government should be able to protect its constituents from their misguided passions, that virtual representation is necessary, and that checks and balances among the divided powers of the government are vital. Factions are a source …show more content…
In order to “secure the public good, and private rights, against the danger of [majority] faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and form of popular government,” (#10: 45) they proposed the use of an electoral college, which would “refine and enlarge public views” (#10: 46). In order to allow the people to have an active voice in the government while protecting them from the negative aspects of factions, the authors of “The Federalist” proposed the use of an electoral college. Furthermore, Hamilton and Madison agreed that the electoral college should consist of delegates, rather than trustees. Hamilton proposed that the members of the electoral college would take the interests of different groups into account, proving to be “an impartial arbiter between them, ready to promote either, so far as it shall appear to him conducive to the general interests of his community” (#35: 171). This means that members of the electoral college should vote in discordance with the popular vote of their state, if the majority’s opinion is destructive towards the community. Madison holds the same view of the electoral college members, asserting that their “wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country” (#10: 46). This implies that if the interest of a certain state is contrary to national interest, an elector should vote in accordance with national view. It is clear that both Hamilton and Madison agreed that a scheme of representation utilizing delegates, rather than trustees, would ensure safety in the face of majority
In George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796), the departing president warned that the creation of political factions, would most certainly lead to “formal and permanent despotism” for the United States, of which he was clearly right. Despite Washington’s words of warning, two of his closest advisors, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, helped to form the factions that led to the dual party system under which the U.S. operates today. Hamilton and Jefferson came to represent the divisions that shaped the early national political landscape, for they had polar opposite views on how the Constitution of the United States should allow, and support, their vision of how the government should be run. Jefferson took a strong position against the creation of a large, central federal government that got itself involved in domestic affairs. According to Jefferson, the role of government should be small and more direct to local citizens, in order to keep the new republic from returning to a tyrannical monarchy.
We the People Reading Assignment: Anti-Federalist Position 1. Why do you think Madison suggested having the Constitution ratified by the people in special conventions instead of by state legislatures? As a Federalist, Madison knew that the state legislators would vote against ratifying the Constitution because it would lessen the states’ powers with a stronger national government. As a result, Madison suggested special conventions to prevent this from happening.
“Richard Henry Lee’s Objection to the Constitution” and James Madison’s “The Federalist No. 51” contend about the positive and negative effects of the Constitution. Both essays are important documents for early American history, and both contain valid points. James Madison, however, presents the better argument with his diplomatic, content, and logical approach. “The Federalist No. 51” begins with a question about how America can properly divide government power (Madison 1). Madison believes the Constitution is the answer because it gives the foundations and tools to keeping the power of the government for the people.
Madison believes that these factions are beneficial for the republic only if they can be managed. He implies that
The United States, a country built on democracy and freedom, wasn’t always the great country it is today, without the help of some key role players. Leaders such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, took the responsibility of running the country and making it into the nation it is today. Although they all felt the same burden to the country, the Founding Fathers weren’t all band together to complete the task at hand, they separately changed America, while inclusively and unexpectedly working together for the same goal of a vast, extravagant nation for all to be welcomed to. The U.S. wasn’t your average nation, the idea of not having a common ethnicity, religion, or language was very uncommon in the eighteenth century.
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists Essay The creation of the Constitution was accompanied by the heat debate concerning the future of the US and its structure. Basically, these debates led to the creation of two opposing camps. On the one hand, there were federalist, while, on the other, there were their opponents, anti-federalist. Basically, their arguments concerned the role of the national government and its dominance over the interest of local communities.
The American Founders were in favor of the electoral college. When the electoral college was created most of the people in America were not educated and could not read and write. Therefore, the Founders believed that the elections wouldn’t be fairly voted upon due to lack of knowledge from the people. Furthermore,
Before the famous Constitution became published on September 17, 1787, there was a huge democracy over it since some people supported it (federalists), while others opposed it (anti-federalists). Basically the main arguments used by the Anti-Federalists in the discussion of the U.S. Constitution was the fact that the Constitution offered too much power to the federal government and that the rights of the people were not promised through a Bill of Rights. In order to get their words out, they had ratified convections for the thirteen states. They choose to go to Pennsylvania first because of its size, influence, and wealth.
Many times anti-federalist are given a misconception, they are portrayed as self-serving, nefarious, and unpatriotic trash of history. Really, many of the most visible Anti-Federalist were highly respected individuals who fought in the revolutionary war, signed the Deceleration of Independence, and were political strongholds in their own states. Some of these men were Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and future president James Monroe. The opposing side consisted of men like Alexander hamilton, James Madison and George Washington.
The federalists had political and practical reasons. Examples of political reasons is Jefferson created the Republicans and had been going against the federalists for years so they have grown to hate Jefferson. However the Federalists also had some practical reasoning such as Jefferson has always said you should not be allowed to bend the laws even just a little bit so when he bent the laws a lot the Federalists were confused. The Federalists also knew he did not want Hamilton to make a national bank because nowhere in the constitution did it say he could.
Under the guidance of Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, Federalists became a popular political party at the end of George Washington’s term. As a proud Federalists in The United Stated under George Washington, a numerous amount of hypocrisy has consumed the population on, “What were Federalists’ views?” A Federalist strongly believed in the power of the national government because the central government would have yielded stability to the country. Instead of a democracy or popular sovereignty, an “aristocratic leadership,” would better lead the nation (History in the Making - Chapter 10).
“That creates a system of government that tends to be indecisive and weak because everyone argues for their own best interests.” (Gaille). The electoral college may not be perfect, but it allows for decisions to be made quickly. Not everyone thinks alike and that means that no matter what happens the government will not please everybody. A leader is supposed to be able to lead.
In 1787, years after the founding of the United States, the Constitutional Convention met to decide how the new nation would govern itself. The delegates understood that the need for a leader was necessary but still bitterly remembered how Britain abused of its power. The delegates agreed that the President and Vice President should be chosen informally and not based on the direct popular vote, thus gave birth to the Electoral College. The Electoral College is defined as “a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.” Since 1787 the Electoral College has been the system for voting in the United States, but with our nation ever more changing and growing it
Our founding fathers realized that, governmentally, there were already some great divides in our country, much of it economical in quality, and much of it due to simple situation. The office of the committee and the vice presidency is the only internal decision we hold all other lawmakers are voted in at or below state level, but for these two highest offices, the election is internal. and they wanted to establish that no certain type of industrial or political circumstance could control this highest election, so they conceived of the 'electoral college ', and it always has the same number of members as the total of our congressmen in
Several years after the United States came to be, the Constitutional Convention met to determine how the new nation should govern itself. The delegates saw that it was crucial to have a president and vice president, but the delegates did not want these offices to reflect how the colonies were treated under the British rule. The delegates believed that the president’s power should be limited, and that he should be chosen through the system known as the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a body of people who represent the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the electing of the president and vice president. Many citizens feel that the Electoral College goes against our nation’s principle of representative democracy, while others