FEDERALIST NUMBER 10
FEDERALIST NUMBER 10
Before coming into effect, the US constitution required ratification by nine states. It was a long and complex fight before the US ratification. The states were interested in retaining their power and therefore they strongly resisted the ratification of a new strong central government. Those favouring the ratification came to be known as Federalists while those opposing it came to be known as anti-federalists. There existed vast and complex differences between the federalist and the anti- federalists. The federalist views could be better be termed as nationalist. They had remained instrumental in the shaping of the new US constitution. A series of essays that were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay explained and defended the constitution as well as defended its provisions. The federalists even defended what was the weakest point in the constitution, a lack of bill of rights. Their essays suggested that the protections were sufficient and that the Congress could always propose amendments. On the other hand were the Anti-federalists like Patrick Henry who suggested that such a constitution could lead to a dangerously powerful national government. In the first paragraph of Federalist Number 10 James Madison wrote, “AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice. … (Madison, 1787)”. James Madison had been trying to defend the weaknesses of the constitution and clarify its strengths which were not strengths in the sight of the anti-federalists. Eventually, the federalists were able to persuade several of the anti-federalists too through their essays and papers. Among all the anti-federalist papers, Brutus 15 is a very important one. It is an antifederalist paper that hits on the weakness of the US constitution and the growing power of the government. In the opening paragraph the author explains, “I said in my last number, that the supreme court under this constitution would be exalted above all other power in the government, and subject to no control. The business of this paper will be to illustrate this, and to shew the danger that will result from it” (Constitutionsociety, 1788). This is what the author does throughout the paper, explaining the ills of the US constitution and the new government to be formed under it. While the antifederalists continued to oppose the new constitution in their essays, the problem was that they could never unite across the states and therefore could not supposedly deal a strong blow to their target, the new constitution. Their first major success was that they could force the new Congress under the new constitution to establish a bill of rights that could ensure the liberties which according to the antifederalist the new constitution violated. The antifederalists vehemently opposed the constitution as well as continued to speak against it through the antifederalist papers. However, since they were not united, they could not substantially exert their power.
Read Marbury Vs Madison Landmark case
References:
Madison, J. (1787). Federalist No. 10. In Hanover. Retrieved December 28, 2015, from http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111federalist.html
Brutus 15 (1788). In Constitution Society. Retrieved December 28, 2015, from http://www.constitution.org/afp/brutus15.htm
References:
Madison, J. (1787). Federalist No. 10. In Hanover. Retrieved December 28, 2015, from http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111federalist.html
Brutus 15 (1788). In Constitution Society. Retrieved December 28, 2015, from http://www.constitution.org/afp/brutus15.htm
