The Federalist Papers,
Compromises That Lead to the
Constitution & Bill of Rights, and
Our 1st Two Party System of
Politics
Dr. East 10/6/2014
Review: Remember!
• What were some main weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation (our 1st Doc. And ratified 1781)?
1. No executive branch, no leader, no unified voice
2. No power to tax (thus the Army couldn’t get paid leading
to many problems including Daniel Shay’s Rebellion)
3. 2/3’s of delegates needed to pass laws; all delegates yeas
needed to pass amendments to the Articles
4. No ability to regulate interstate trade or commerce
5. Each state had one vote regardless of size
6. There was no national court system
• Thus, 55 delegates, lead by James Madison and
George Washington met in secret in
Philadelphia, PA in 1787.
– There these people argued and fought and
eventually drafted our current Constitution.
Their arguments lead to compromises
in the Constitution and our 1st two
Party System of Politics
Great Compromise
Slave
Compromise
The Federalist
Debate
• Following the Constitutional Convention,
the delegates returned to their home
states
• Their job was to convince the people (the
state legislatures) that this was as near
perfect a document as could be devised
• 9 of 13 states needed to ratify the
Constitution in order for it to take effect
• Two groups that debated during
the construction of the
Constitution -- The Federalist and
the Anti-Federalists -- eventually
become political parties
THE FEDERALIST Approach
George Washington, James Madison, Alexander
Hamilton, and John Jay
~ supported a strong, national
government that would share power
with the states
~ believed that the checks and balances
written into the Constitution provided
adequate protection for all—the
House of Representatives would
protect the people’s interests, the Senate
would protect the states’ interests, the
president would protect the national
interests, and the Supreme Court would
protect the people’s fundamental interests
~ believed that many rights were already
specified in the Constitution, and they were
concerned that a specific list of rights
might not be inclusive enough and might
actually limit rights to only those listed
~ promised that a bill of rights would be
added to the ratified document
THE ANTI-FEDERALISTS
Approach
Patrick Henry, George Clinton, Thomas Jefferson
~ supported a weaker national
government with more power residing
with the states
~ opposed a central government that
might
dominate state or local governments
~ worried that freedoms gained at such a
High cost would be lost through the
Government’s abuse of power
~ believed that without a bill of rights, the
Constitution did not adequately protect
individual liberties
More on the Federalist Approach – The Federalist
Party
• Lead by Hamilton
– John Jay, Washington and, at the time of drafting the Constitution,
Madison (though he would clash with Hamilton and change is mind
later)
• At the time, this group was considered to be a more “conservative”
approach to government
– We do not mean conservative in a modern sense
– We mean, conservative in preservative sense as they wanted to
preserve the union and control chaos…potentially even at the expense
of some ind. or state liberties …
– Felt like a strong central gov. would preserve national stability thus
making a safe place and improving the public good
• They tended to favor stronger central gov., had been for ratification
of the new Constitution
– They are like modern day Democrats in their support for strong central
gov.
– Today they would likely have been for NSA wire taps, etc.
• These were people that felt like the Articles were way to weak to
hold a nation together against warfare, etc.
Liberal-Democratic Republican Party
(More on the Anti-Federalist Approach)
• Evolved from Anti-federalist position in creation of
Constitution
• it’s early leaders were weary of strong federal government
and concerned that a too strong government would limit
individual and states’ rights
– Like modern day Republicans in their consistent advocacy of
localized states’ rights and governments vs. national/central
government and too much control by them
• Led by Thomas Jefferson… but he eventually convinced
Madison to support this group’s agenda too
– Madison disagreed with Hamilton’s strong federalist take on
central government finances because he felt that they favored
wealthy northern elite and not states
• Beliefs – tolerance, freedom, and independent action …
with focus on stronger state governments and personal
liberties
First Presidents and Parties
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents
• 1 – George Washington – kind of a leader for
Federalist party, but he mostly tried to stay
away from party politics
• 2 - John Adams – Federalist party all the way
• 3 – Thomas Jefferson – Lib. Demo. Repubs.
– First transition to new party in charge of Executive
Branch, peaceful transition
The Federalist Papers
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
-- James Madison, Federalist No. 51
In an effort to help convince the public to support the new Constitution and
its ratification, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote a
series of 85 essays known as The Federalist (or The Federalist Papers).
“Publius”
(pseudonym that referred to Publius Valerius Pubicola, a defender of the ancient Roman Republic)
Alexander Hamilton
(NY) wrote 51 of the
essays
James Madison
(VA) wrote 26
of the essays
* Hamilton and Madison jointly authored 3 of the essays
John Jay (NY) wrote
5 of the essays
#1 Introduction to The Federalist
Papers
Government’s Responsibilities
#2-5 Foreign Policy
#6-10 Domestic Policy
#11-13 Advantages to staying united
#14 Summary of issues covered
Problems in the Current American
Confederacy
#15-17 No federal authority over the
citizens
#18-20 Weaknesses in other
confederacies
#21-22 Problems with the Articles of
Confederation
Power Needed to Fulfill
Responsibilities
#23-26 Foreign Defense
#27-29 Domestic Defense
#30-36 Taxation
Drafting the Constitution
#37-40 Constitutional Convention
#41-44 Federal Powers
#45-46 State Powers
#47-51 “Separation of Powers” within
the government
Structure of Proposed Government
#52-58 House of Representatives
#59-61 Congress
#62-66 Senate
#67-77 Executive
#78-83 Judiciary
#84-85 Miscellaneous
Federalist No. 10
1. Factions = political groups that want to
control the government are dangerous, BUT
because the U.S. is a large republic it will be
hard for one group to dominate. Factions
will have to work together to
control…ultimately it will benefit everyone
2. Citizens must VOTE!
Federalist No. 45
1. States created the national government;
even choose their U.S. Senators
2. National govt = power to wage war and
protect the country
State govt = operates in times of peace and
security…all the time
Federalist No. 51
1. Judicial branch is different b/c the justices
are appointed (not elected); their job is to
interpret the Constitution NOT win reelection and protect their jobs
2. “If men were angels, no government would
be necessary.”…we need some form of
control. The people created the govt and
must limit its powers to prevent abuse.
Federalist No. 78
1. Supreme Court justices serve for LIFE.
2. Justices should not be concerned w/ reelection and responding to the whims of the
people. Their job is to reflect on the
meaning of the Constitution.
Compromises between 2 Parties in
writing Constitution
• Compromises that satisfied Lib. Demo. Reps (the Anti-Federalists) –
1. New Constitution retained local control over selecting a Senate (Federalists
had wanted HOR to vote these guys in)
2. New Constitution allowed local representatives (electors) to select
president based on popular citizen vote (ind. Vote)
3. New Constitution said that all powers not listed as federal powers were
given to states… that would wind up being so many more
4. Check of strong Senate power by creation of House of Representatives,
whose members represented smaller numbers of people … more localized
representation
5. Check of Exec. Power by having Congress
6. Compromise on addition of Bill of Rights as immediate amendments to
Constitution so that ratification would happen
7. 3/5ths compromise that satisfied slave holding states… states’ rights
advocates liked this
• Compromises that satisfied the Federalists
1. Creation of an Appointed Judicial Branch
2. Creation of an Executive Branch
1. *** In General, Federalists were happy that they got
to even have a federal gov. cause everybody on the
other side was super suspicious of potential for
TYRANNY by a strong federal gov.
3. More central powers to tax
4. More central powers to control interstate trade
5. More central powers over military
Assignment: Free Response Essay Question
(Use slides 8 - 11)
The two party system became entrenched in the
early years of the United States
(a) Identify the two major approaches to
government and one label used to identify each of
these groups
(b) Explain how this early split into two political
camps shaped any two of the compromises that
were reached during the writing of the Constitution.