Unit 1 Essay

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The Necessity of the Constitution of the United States

DC Political Science

20 September 2024
1

The Constitution of the United States is one of the most widely-known governing

documents in the entire world, pershaps equal only with the Magna Carta. However, the

Constitution is by no means the first governing document of the United States. It’s predecessor

failed so badly as to be embarrassing, nearly wiping it from the public memory of modern-day

Americans.

When the Articles of the Confederation were written in the midst of the Revolutionary

war, the emphasis on state sovereignty must have seemed like a good idea. To ensure that the

new government would never be able to oppress it’s people the same way Great Britain had

done, the Articles of the Confederation described a small central government with limited

authority. However, the powers allotted to Congress were mostly supervisory in nature and were

not enough to effectively manage the states; the Articles never allowed Congress any means of

enforcing national law1. Any sense of unity the states had during the Revolutionary War quickly

dissolved as Congress was unable to maintain that “firm league of friendship.”

Outstanding among the many reasons that the Articles of the Confederation failed was

that Congress lacked the ability to regulate state commerce. The state governments got into

economic competition with each other, going as far as to make political alliances between

different states and discriminate against out-of-state merchants, in clear violation of the Articles

of the Confederation.2 Rhode Island adopted extreme inflationary policies, rendering it’s

currency nearly worthless. “Within a year, Rhode Island’s paper dollar was worth only 16 cents

in gold.”3

1
Moss, David, and Marc Campasano. 2017. James Madison, the 'Federal Negative,' and the Making of the U.S.
Constitution. N.p.: Harvard Business School.
2
Moss, David, and Marc Campasano. 2017. James Madison, the 'Federal Negative,' and the Making of the U.S.
Constitution. N.p.: Harvard Business School.
3
Moss, David, and Marc Campasano. 2017. James Madison, the 'Federal Negative,' and the Making of the U.S.
Constitution. N.p.: Harvard Business School.
2

Clearly, a new system of government was needed. Most Americans split into two groups:

the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists advocated for federalism, which

describes a loose hierarchical system where multiple governmental entities share jurisdiction

over the same area of land or population. The Federalists proposed that the National government

would have supreme authority in regards to interpreting the Constitution. In addition to veto

power, the Constitution gave full control of paying off debt, minting money and other economic

activities to the federal government, solving the economic and mercantile problems that persisted

under the Articles of the Confederation.

The Anti-federalists feared that this would make the National government too strong- and

too similar to a monarchy. The Anti-federalists believed that all the problems plaguing America

could be solved with changes to the Articles of the Confederation.

Delegates from twelve of the thirteen states met at a convention in Philadelphia to write a

new governing document- this time called the “Constitution of the United States”. The

anti-federalists were opposed to the Constitution the whole time it was being written. However,

James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton- all fervent Federalists, anonymously wrote

eighty-five essays entitled the “Federalist Papers” in defense of the Constitution. In Federalist

Ten, the author, probably James Madison4, explains a major problem which the Articles of the

Confederation had no provision for dealing with- factions. Madison explains that “factions” are a

form of mob rule- which lead to a “tyranny of the majority” and ultimately the downfall of a

democratic governments.5 According to Madison, factions form as because of socio-economic

inequality in a democratically-governed population. Members of the population will form

4
Madison, James. 2024. “Federalist No. 10.” Library of Congress Research Guides.
https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-1-10#s-lg-box-wrapper-25493273.
5
Madison, James. 2024. “Federalist No. 10.” Library of Congress Research Guides.
https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-1-10#s-lg-box-wrapper-25493273.
3

“factions” or parties to protect or advance their interests. This creates competition amongst

factions, and whichever faction has the most subscribing members will dominate the other

factions- to their mere exclusion from democratic representation or to actual harm. Short of

removing personal freedom and creating a despotic form of government, Madison says factions

can be prevented by “giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same

interests.”6 He says this can be done by diffusing those with similar socio-economic status, and

ensuring they would never be able to contact each other and form ruling mob or tyrannical

majority- and preventing factions from forming in the first place. The Constitution would allow

the population of a state to vote for representatives- so while “tyranny of the majority” may exist

within a town or voting district, the modified republic form of democratic representation

described by the Constitution would stop a tyranny of the majority from occurring on a national

level. As James Madison puts it, “The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within

their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other

States.”7

Federalist 51, written either by James Madison or Alexander Hamilton, addresses the

reciprocal problem; rather than tyranny of the “governed”, Federalist 51 deals with tyranny of

the government. Assuming that it will be impossible to prevent ambitious, egocentric, or

egomaniacal will always be attracted to government and run for whatever office they see fit, it is

impossible to prevent the corruption of Government. Assuming that no external structure or force

is enough to end the cycle of corruption, the author says the government must be structured to

prevent itself from becoming despotic. “ [One] must first enable the government to control the

6
Madison, James. 2024. “Federalist No. 10.” Library of Congress Research Guides.
https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-1-10#s-lg-box-wrapper-25493273.
7
Madison, James. 2024. “Federalist No. 10.” Library of Congress Research Guides.
https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-1-10#s-lg-box-wrapper-25493273.
4

governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”8 The way this can be accomplished,

Madison or Hamilton says, is to create separate branches (also called departments in Federalist

51) of government, with separate powers. The three branches they created are called the

Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial. To oversimplify, the legislative branch creates and

enacts laws, the Executive branch can veto laws, and the Judicial branch, which includes district

courts and the Surpreme court, interprets laws. The Surpreme court is of special interest,

however, because it is in charge of interpreting the Constitution, and has “veto power” over

unconstitutional laws. In order to maintain the impartiality of the supreme court, to make sure

that cases are judged fairly, the Judges are given life appointiments. This minimises or even

eliminates the influence of a political party over a judge. The author of Federalist No. 51 also

ponders the possibility of an absolute federal negative, in regards to both state and federal laws.

In an astounding display of throughness, the author even contemplates “factions” and tyrannical

majorities, the same as the author of Federalist No. 10.

Ultimately, the Articles of the Confederation illustrate a good point. To paraphrase a

quote: states are laboratories for democracy. The Articles would seem to take this quote further-

America itself is a laboratory for democracy. The Constitution is the largest-scale science

experiment ever conceived of. The Articles of the Confederation were excessively rigid while the

Constitution is more flexible: it’s amendment process ensures that Americans can learn from past

mistakes and change the variables- which is what leads to success in science experiments and

success as a country.

8
Madison, James, and Alexander Hamilton. 2024. “Federalist No. 51.” Library of Congress Research Guides.
https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-51-60.
5

Bibliography

Madison, James. 2024. “Federalist No. 10.” Library of Congress Research Guides.

https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-1-10#s-lg-box-wrapper-25493273.
6

Madison, James, and Alexander Hamilton. 2024. “Federalist No. 51.” Library of Congress

Research Guides. https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-51-60.

Moss, David, and Marc Campasano. 2017. James Madison, the 'Federal Negative,' and the

Making of the U.S. Constitution. N.p.: Harvard Business School.

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