Ratification Dbq Essay

Prior to the ratification of the United States Constitution, a series of eighty-five essays, later compiled and published as The Federalist Papers, were written under the joint pseudonym “Publius” by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. In these essays, the three men expressed support for ratification by explaining the meaning and virtues of the Constitution (Brinkley, 139). Although, it did not receive such fame until the early twentieth-century, Madison’s Federalist No. 10 has since been regarded as one of the more prominent Federalist papers (Adair, 48). In it, Madison presents the argument that the new republican government under the Constitution would be better able to deal with the problems that arise from factions. This paper

The first method Madison offered at avoiding factions was to eliminate the causes. He believed this could be accomplished in two ways: destroying liberty and giving everyone the same opinions, desires, and interests. The second method was to merely control its effects. However, Madison rejected both ideas. He stated of the first remedy, “that it is worse than the disease” (Johnson, 156). Believing that liberty was essential even if it produced factions; that abolishing it would be comparable to abolishing air because it’s essential to fire. Of the second remedy he states that if men are free to think, they will naturally have different opinions, desires, and interests (Johnson, 156).
It is through this idea of differences of opinions that Madison states that “The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man” (Johnson, 156). Essentially, meaning that factions would naturally develop as men have differing opinions regarding such things as religion, politics, and attachment to different political leaders. However, Madison states that the most common source of factions was the unequal distribution of property. It is through this issue that Madison first raises the best way at limiting faction, starting with the flaws of a “pure democracy” (Johnson,

He saw republics as having two key advantages over a pure democracy. The first being the much smaller size of the representative government elected by the people, and the second being the larger number of citizens, and the greater area of the country, in which the republic might extend. He believed that a representative government elected by the public to vote on their behalf would refine and enlarge the public views. Through the wisdom of their representatives the public good could better be achieved. However, he recognizes a problem within this idea, which he then raises the questions whether a larger republic is superior to a smaller one (Johnson,