Our social system is struggling, one of the few things that Americans can agree on in 2024. According to a Pew survey conducted last year, many political and social institutions’ positive perceptions are at historic lows, and a growing number of people dislike both political parties. Using this disappointment, the Electoral College, the Supreme Court, and re-establishing similar state picture in the Senate are all suggestions for alterations.
However, the arguments made for such ideas may be indistinguishable from the articles published in The Federalist Papers, a collection of 85 essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the pseudonym Publius in order to encourage the acceptance of our Constitution. Perhaps we need to understand why our government was created the method it is given Americans ‘ humiliating ignorance of the fundamentals of our government, which only 44 percent of Americans know how to serve a full name and only one in three do not. What better time than Independence Day to indicate on the significance of these amazing documents for our democratic govt?
Why Do The Federalist Papers Matter Also?
Those familiar with the music” Hamilton” will realize that the Articles of Confederation, our government’s first attempt at a federal law, failed miserably. The state were not required to provide tax revenue to the federal government, but instead the federal government had the freedom to pursue their own international policy, write their own currency, and collect taxes. It was nearly impossible to alter the Articles because Congress required nine out of 13 states to accept any regulation. A federal system with more authority vested in the central government was proposed as a solution to the issue at the Constitutional Convention’s meeting in 1787, but it still needed to be ratified by the state, which the Anti-Federalist camp, led by officials like Patrick Henry, attempted to avoid.
Hamilton and Jay joined forces to fight for the fresh Constitution and handle the various accusations brought forth by the Anti-Federalists. Madison, who probably wrote the most important ones, and Hamilton, who wrote the majority of The Federalist Papers. Though no themselves bound as laws, as is the Constitution, The Federalist Papers, similar to the Declaration of Independence, serve as great explanatory documents regarding our foundation principles.
However, The Federalist Papers are cited far more than any other resource in Supreme Court law. In Cohens v. Virginia ( 1821 ), Chief Justice John Marshall referred to it as” a complete commentary on our constitution, and is appealed by all parties to the questions that instrument has given birth to.”
If You’re Going to Read The Federalist Papers…
Given both their language, which can be very complex and deep, and the fact that there are so many of them, The Federalist Papers can sound intimidating. Where to begin? Should you learn them all the way through? The quick response is no. Although all The Federalist Papers are worthwhile, some have more impact and impact than the others. Here’s a quick snack to the most significant items that some political philosophers consider to be important, which can be easily read over a beverage before or after your Independence Day meal.
Federalist No. 2: This report, by Jay, notes some of the qualities that make the United States mainly capable of personal- government. One of these is that America, unlike another nations” composed of distant and far territories”, is rather “one connected, rich, widespreading state” with a variety of geography and climates. In language that should inform our debates on immigration and cultural relativism, Jay argues another strength is that America is “one united people — a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs …” All of this, Jay observes, appears to be the “design of Providence”.
Federalist No. 6: Hamilton here offers a sober assessment of the nature of man, who is “ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious”. Hamilton rhetorically asks:” Have republics in reality been less addicted to war than monarchies?” In a language that would shock those who want to forcefully export democracy around the world. Are not the former administered by men as well as the latter”? Thus, Hamilton warns the “deceitful dream of a golden age” that has been realized by some allegedly ideal political system that will enable man to overcome his propensity to sin and be selfish.
Federalist No 10: In Madison’s first essay, the “father of the Constitution” swings for the fences, arguing that a” well- constructed Union” is capable of controlling the inevitable violence of factions that is” sown into the nature of man”. Our eventual fourth president makes the observation that you ca n’t coerce everyone into having the same views, passions, and interests, which are both antithetical to the American project. Or you can try to minimize the effects of faction through a powerful republican body ( like the US).
Federalist No. Another Madison gem is this one where he asserts that there should be” checks and balances” between the various branches and be as independent as possible so that one branch does n’t have a dominating influence over the others. What does he think of the executive branch’s current authority? Madison praises the decentralized political system created by the Constitution, in which” society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority”. This is also the famous essay featuring the phrase:” If men were angels, no government would be necessary”.
This Fourth of July homework for this
I hope that you will enjoy a few minutes of one or more of the most significant The Federalist Papers during this holiday, which honors the greatest nation on Earth. If you want a few more suggestions, essays No. 1, 9, 15, 33, 39, 48, 49, 62, 63, 70- 72, and 84 are also influential.
Forget what the condescending elites of our illustrious institutions in the media and the academy say about the necessity of overthrowing our constitutional order in order to promote “democracy” or, as is frequently mistakenly and erroneously claimed, because the framers were focused on self-aggrandizement. Instead, the left’s political stances, according to The Federalist Papers, would only lead to the same evils that our founding fathers feared, including the enrichment and empowerment of an elite class.
For some unsettling reason, our government was created by an alliance of some of the most brilliant political thinkers in history who all happened to be of the same generation and the same country. Instead of some flaw in the timeless truths they espoused, it’s our failure to remember and comprehend their wisdom that accounts for a lot of the struggles of our contemporary era. Our political sanity will be greatly aided by familiarizing ourselves with our Constitution and its most illustrious interpreters in The Federalist Papers. This Independence Day, you have your homework.
Casey Chalk serves as the New Oxford Review’s editor and columnist as well as The Federalist’s senior contributor. He has a bachelor’s in history and master’s in teaching from the University of Virginia and a master’s in theology from Christendom College. The Persecuted: True Stories of Courageous Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands is his book.