Essays on Federalist

The principles by James Madison in Federalist # 10 are better placed in accomplishing unity than those suggested by Cato. A large extended republic gives individuals the freedom of movement. As individuals move from one place to another, they interact with people who have different interests and cultures. It is only by such interaction that people understand the cultures and interests of other people and this enhances the establishment of unity. Having an extended republic may not look good in the short-term because of the evident divisions, but it is the answer to unity in the longer term. This is ...

Foremost, in the views of the Federalists, the only means through which the Constitution could maintain the partition of powers into the executive, legislative, and judiciary departments was through instructions incorporated into the structure of government. Accordingly, as Madison explains in Federalist #51, the Constitution gives each department “a will of its own” by ensuring that factors such as appointments are devoid of the other two’s influence. However, the new government gives more power to the “fountain of authority,” the citizens. By that logic, in the strictest sense, the people reserve the right to select the Head of ...

Question 1

A faction is a group of individuals, comprising of members drawn from either a majority or a minority, who are opposed to the common interests of the larger society. Madison states that the motives of a faction are driven by passion or selfish interests (Congress, n.d.).

Question 2

A democratic government comprises of a small number of citizens who gather and administer the government in person. As such, there are no mechanisms or structures to limit the effects of a faction. In such governments, the effects of a faction are most likely to ripple out and affect the majority explaining why ...

ABSTRACT

The Sedition Act of 1798 was signed into law by the Federalist Party when there was fear of war in France and to prevent their rival political party, the Democratic-Republicans, from speaking out against and criticizing the Federalist party, which could result in legal ramifications, including fines and jail time. The Sedition Act was and remains an example of unconstitutional legislature that undermined the spirit of the Constitution and the First Amendment guaranteeing Americans the freedom of speech, expression and press. The Act was hypocritical and defied the principles that the United States was founded upon. It made it ...

The civic virtues that are being discussed in the provided excerpts can be divided into three broad categories, namely, obtaining and maintenance of civic knowledge and putting one’s civic knowledge to use through public participation; being self-assertive when necessary, and self-restraint. Taken together, the passages suggest that to the Framers, the model citizen would be one that understands the issues of importance in the community and nation, is actively engaged in public life, and who know when to zealously advocate his point of view or concede depending upon the specific circumstances. Three examples are illustrative of this point. ...

The following primary documents include two antifederalist essays and three federalist essays that were published in newspapers three to six months following the Constitutional Convention. The antifederalists aimed to convince the states that the new constitution would not work while the federalists hoped to gain support and ratification of the new constitution. In 1787 and 1788, when the essays were written, the new country was struggling. The Articles of Confederation were not sufficient, and the fears that resulted in the Revolutionary War were still very fresh in the minds of everyone.

SUMMARY OF THE ESSAYS

THE ANTIFEDERALIST NO. 18-20 WHAT DOES HISTORY TEACH? ( ...

The United States had two constitutions to regulate and establish the rights and state orders. Articles of Confederation came into force in 1781, when Maryland ratified it and it was the first Constitution of the United States (Fritz C. G., 2008, p.131). The Constitution came to replace the Articles of Confederation when it was ratified by New Hampshire in 1788. These two documents have much in common. However, there are quite significant differences between them. By comparing them it is possible to see what the drafters considered important in 1781, and that they changed their minds in 1788. Articles ...

At the foundations of the American Revolutionary War, of between 1775 and 1783, were calls for independence among the Patriots residing in Britain’s Thirteen Colonies in North America. The Americans emerged victoriously and as a result, the English Monarch lost its claims over the vast territories. Now, the understanding of freedom in the thirteen regions revolved around the eradication of tyranny to pave the way for democracy and for that reason alone, the United States abhorred monarchies and promoted a government based on a democratic system. To that end, it is no wonder that concerns over the central ...

Trace the development of political parties in the U.S. from

There were major developments of political parties in the U.S.A during the period that the first three presidents were sworn into office after the ratification of the United States Constitution. George Washington was the first president of the United States who was unanimously elected in the first two national elections, serving from 1789 to 1797. George Washington was a non-partisan. He lacked affiliation with any political party. In his first inaugural address, George warned people and the congress against the formation of local and party partisanship. He said that ...

When Federalists and Anti-Federalists were debating about the new U.S. Constitution, one of the most controversial issues was the balance of power between the national and state governments. In order give more power to the national government, Federalists had to take into account Anti-Federalists’ views and introduce three branches of power that would be empowered to control each other. James Madison, one of America’s founding fathers, wrote in The Federalist Papers that “power is of an encroaching natureit ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it.” (Cited in The Federalist Papers Project 19). It ...

Federalism in the United States may be defined as relationship between state 

governments and the federal government of the US with a progress shifting of power from the states towards the national government (Beck, 2011). Federalism was a political answer and solution for the situation with the Articles of Confederation (the first US constitution replaced by the current US Constitution in 1788) that gave the federal government very little practical authority. The Articles contained the direction on the ways to direct the American Revolutionary War, conduct diplomatic relations with Europe and deal with different territorial issues and Native American relations. Although, this document also became the weakness of the government, which ...

. The early history of the United States from the founding of the Republic after the Constitutional Convention to the Civil War was greatly influenced by the changing face of the so-called party system. The main points which all of the parties in the different eras of Early American history before the Civil War concentrated primarily on what the role and size of the federal government should be and how it should work to deal with the major issues of the day. One of the most significant issues surrounding the early federal government related to its place and stance as ...

The American political system as it was formulated by the Founding Fathers and written down in the Constitution was based on a particularly eighteenth century vision of liberal government based on Enlightenment ideals. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights as a document is a great example of what the priorities and values of the Framers of the Constitution were. The values of the Framers which they fought a war against Great Britain over basically centered around the belief in limited government, the decentralization of power and the separation of powers combined with a system of checks and balances. ...

The person I chose to introduce as my unsung hero is John Marshall. John Marshall, who was Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835, is best known for his opinion in the 1803 case Marbury v. Madison, in which he formalized the principle of judicial review. John Marshall qualifies as an unsung hero, because without his interpretation of what the judicial power of the court means, it is more than likely that the nation that we know today would be very a different place. Unlike most other Chief Justices, prior to his appointment to ...

A political party is a grouping of individuals who come together to compete in elections and hold authority in the government. Often, political parties agree on specific policies and programs that are intended to enhancing the collective common good of their supporters. Despite the fact that there are many international commonalities in the organization of political parties, there are a lot of differences concerning the ideological cores. In modern democracies, the political parties are elected by the citizens to form a government. Many nations in the world have various party systems. For instance, China has a one-party system while ...

Adam Smith:

Adam Smith was born in Scotland June 16, 1723. He is one of the most revered personalities in the history of the United States (Hanley 40). After the age of 15, he joined Glasgow University where he commenced his philosophy studies. Adam Smith later attended Oxford’s Balliol College in the 1740s. After graduating, he traveled extensively across Scotland, lecturing the public on his economic philosophy. He was a strong believer in the free market economy, which he considered as a system of natural liberty. The Wealth of Nations remains one of the Smith’s most famous works in ...

When Britain’s' thirteen colonies in North America took up arms against the mother country, the prospects of an independent nation demanded a new government for the free people. Notably, there was pressure to ensure that the new laws were democratic as opposed to the Monarchical rule exerted by the British on the colonists. Hence, in 1777, the Founding Fathers attempted a government based on the autonomy of the individual States by proposing the Articles of Confederation at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The Articles came into effect in 1781when the States ratified them but by 1789, the ...

The articles I selected are “A federalist approach to health reform: The worst way, except for all the others” and “Medicare and Medicaid spending variations are strongly linked within hospital regions but not at overall state level.” In their article, Aaron and Butler (2008) suggest that the support for state actions should be instituted as part of any model of expanding the health insurance coverage. Political issues, which have lasted for over ten years, have been an obstacle to the national efforts to expand coverage. The researchers argue that some states have expanded the coverage while others have reiterated ...

Critical Thinking

The 1803 purchase of Louisiana from France had a profound effect on America; it not only changed the geography of the country but also its social, political and economic pillars. The purchase, which occurred during the term of President Thomas Jefferson, had the effect of almost doubling the landmass of America (Fleming, 46). It would be interesting to evaluate America's continental and global position had the purchase not taken place. This is especially the case given that the country would have had access to the Gulf of Mexico hence denying farmers on the frontier an opportunity to engage in ...

The U.S. Articles of Confederation and Constitution

Articles of Confederation versus the Constitution of 1787 The 2nd article defines the sovereignty of the state which is fundamental to the new nation’s existence. At first glance, this may seem to go against the spirit of confederation but it actually stabilizes it by reiterating the foundation of the freedom of self-rule which was the basis of the revolution. While it accedes to aspects of federal rule that have been duly and clearly agreed among the states, the article establishes the natural state of the state to be free to conduct ...

In an era when emojis have become words, 140-character tweets have become essays, and pictures have become stories, it is easier than ever before for an object to take on stereotypical symbolism. Despite the fact that we have more access to information than we have ever had at any earlier point in human history, the sheer amount of the information is overwhelming, particularly because so much comes at us at one time. So we have less time to give to each incoming stimulus, and it is easier for objects to take on stereotypical meaning. One object that has taken ...

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Father of the United States was born on January 11, 1755, in Nevis, British West Indies. He was an immigrant to America, an outsider, an orphan, scholarship boy and a genius. Hamilton was also a bastard, an illegitimate and was prohibited from attending a Christian school and had no rights of inheritance. At the age of ten Hamilton and his family moved to St. Croix, where hundreds of plantations worked by slaves, produced sugar and coffee for export. James Hamilton abandoned the family and Alexander never got to see his father again. When ...

The 1700s through the 1800s saw the two political philosophies battle it out and define what the American constitution is today. It is observed that these two opposing philosophies steered the development of the modern American Constitution and gave it a gentle push towards the right direction. Americas best political minds set out to find common ground in the Philadelphia Convention regarding the government structure. These two parties both had issues on which they agreed and at the same time disagreed on other fronts; eventually both were to make considerable compromises and unite. Led by James Wilson, the Federalists’ ...

In the 1790s, contrasting views of how America should progress economically and how its government should be run sprouted with the development of the state’s first political parties. The Republican and Federalist parties were the first two parties in America. The leader of the Federalist Party was Alexander Hamilton while the Republican president was Thomas Jefferson. In the Federalists’ party, the Federalists backed up Hamilton’s program for economic growth. For instance, they assumed that trade and manufacturing as the drivers of economic growth for any economy. Moreover, it favored offering subsidies to the government to improve trading, ...

Introduction

Impeachment refers to a political trail that is conducted in order to remove the President of the United States from office. “In American Constitution, the term impeachment refers to a trail initiated by the House of Representatives and conducted by the Senate” (p. 654). In other words, the House decides whether or not there are grounds to impeach the President and the Senate conducts the trial in order to discover a verdict. Impeachment is not something that has happened a lot throughout history. In fact, Congress has only had serious discussions of impeachment for three presidents: Andrew, Johnson, Richard ...

The United States of America had just won its independence from Great Britain. Now it was up to the patriots to form a new government and begin to shape the nation that they had envisioned. Victory in war did not ensure future success as the leaders began to form a new democracy and solidify a working union. The new nation faced several challenges in the first years, but also saw some major accomplishments. The challenges included internal political strife, international concerns, and growing pains. Among the accomplishments of the new nation during this period are the development of a ...

Since its establishment, governments are expected to maintain the prosperity of the nation and ensure that it would not succumb to financial debt or instability. If the country does accumulate debt or succumb to instability in any way – may it be due to war or calamity – it is expected that the government would have a plan to remove such problems to reduce the risk of total paralysis. For centuries, governments have tried its best to ensure that their nations do not fall into disarray, but the cause of each change and the consequences of government action varies consistently. Considering ...

For many years, the policy has been and remains the most important source and mechanism of the joint life of the organization of people. It is a powerful tool for targeted reforms in individual countries, as well as the life of the human community as a whole. However, it is still perhaps the most mysterious and multifaceted phenomenon, many paradoxes and contradictions that man was unable to spell over many thousands of years of history. Briefly summarize the arguments used by the revolutionary generation to justify succession from the British Empire.  How did those same arguments undermine the legitimacy ...

The Constitutional Convention, also referred to as the Grand or Federalist Convention, that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May to September 1787 is touted as one of the most memorable, monumental and important events in the United States history after gaining independence from Britain. This is mainly because it revised and updated the initial Articles of Confederation, which formed the precursor to the modern liberal and lofty Constitution of the United States of America. The major aim of the Convention was to revise the Articles of Confederation and to create a new strong form, structure of system of ...

As a show of defiance to the ruling Federalist regime, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison founded the Democratic - Republican Party in 1791. This would also become the United States’ first opposition party. Jefferson and his followers had liberal views on how the country ought to have been run. Jefferson, having served as George Washington’s first secretary of state, had in his opinion experience in the regime that he saw as elitist. Jefferson’s supporters wanted a system of government that looked out for all Americans, regardless of social class. They also felt that power was centralized in ...

In 1787, when the newly formed United States of America were confronted with economic depression and financial crisis, the young country was in a dilemma on whether or not they will revise or replace their confederate Constitution. The confederate Constitution gave the independent states independent powers while the proposed Constitution wanted to centralize the government. The delegates who were in favour of changing the Constitution named themselves the Federalists and those against were called the Anti-Federalist (Berkin et al. 181). The Anti-Federalists were quick to dismiss the idea that the new Republic was in turmoil. However, the Federalists were ...

4) Rule of law does not guarantee that republics and their criminal justice systems will be run efficiently, but the lack of rule of law guarantees that they will not be. If there is no rule of law then it follows that powerful people in the government or business sectors, or more likely in both, can break laws intended to protect the public from them, engage in corruption on a grand scale and generally run amok without fear of reprisal as long as they or their friends are influential enough to quash any response by the constabulary. One need ...

Introduction

In America, Federalism came into practice when some states rejected the thought of a unitary government. Due to the large size of the country, the founding fathers allowed states to form powerful governments. State governments are used as a training ground or political labs for policing, where new ideas can be implemented and evaluated (El Camino College N.pag). In Federalism practicing states such as Florida, state government possesses the power of providing safety and public health, regulate interstate commerce, form government and conduct elections. However, Washington still carries the power of printing money, declaring war, establishing an army and ...

Introduction

When the Founding Fathers set up our form of government, relatively little thought was given to the judicial branch. From early on, the Framers considered the courts to possess the least amount of authority in a democratic republican society. In The Federalist papers, Alexander Hamilton noted that the legislative power was by far the most predominant, whereas the judicial branch was by far the weakest of the three branches of government (Paulsen, 1994, p. 229). Today, however, the judicial branch has grown increasingly influential in shaping policy on a national level. Given the tremendous policy-making authority the Supreme Court ...

Many historians acknowledge the Declaration of Independence as the starting point of the American statehood and one of the most prominent democratic instruments of the United States. A large part of the Declaration takes account of all kinds of accusations against the parliament and the monarchy of England that brought tyranny to the land and undermined the economic interests of the colonists. The true value of the document lies in its social philosophy that “defined three inalienable rights (Ginsberg, et. al. 2014: 18)”: “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Declaration of Independence, US 1776, par. 2) The ...

Abstract

The United States was forming a system of government that had never been tried in a nation so large. The many Articles of Confederation and the Constitution represent the countries attempt to form a system of government true to ideas of the American Revolution. Although the Articles of Confederation had serious flaws that ultimately led to its doom, it was still an attempt to put in place the ideas of the American Revolution. The Constitution, from and ideological standpoint, was not entirely different. Many of the federal powers granted in the Articles of Confederation were the same powers granted in ...

The passage “For if some rights remained with private individuals, in the absence of any common superior who could decide between them and the public, each person would eventually claim to be his own judge in all things, since he is on some points his own judge” from the political philosophic treatise On Social Contract; Or The Principles Of Political Right written by Jean Jacques Rousseau. The above quoted passage is a part of the 7th paragraph near the bottom of page 6, of “Chapter 6. The Social Compact” in the Book 1 of the philosophic treatise On ...

In order to compare and contrast both documents, it is important to discuss how the nullification crisis demonstrates a growing sectionalism between the North and the South. The disparities between the viewpoints of these opposing groups can be understood through the way in which these documents are drafted and the language that has been incorporated into them. These two documents demonstrate the fundamentally differing ideologies that the two parts of the nation had in regards to nullification. The position that each side had, and their essentially opposing viewpoints is represented within these documents. The South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification ...