Unit 1 Essay
Unit 1 Essay
Unit 1 Essay
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Moss, David, and Marc Campasano. 2017. James Madison, the 'Federal Negative,' and the