Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
Federalists:
1-Articles of Confederation too weak.
2-Need a strong national government to run the nation.
3-Liberties that could be included in a bill of rights are
covered in state constitutions.
Anti-Federalists:
1- States would no longer have power to print money.
2- National government given too much power.
3- The Constitution should have a bill of rights.
What were the Federalist Papers?
A series of 85 newspaper articles presenting
arguments to persuade people [especially New
Yorker’s] to vote [ratify] for the Constitution.
Needed 9/13 to ratify the new constitution.
Written by Hamilton [51 articles], Madison [26]
and John Jay [5], Madison and Hamilton [3]
Federalist #10
What is a faction?
…a number of citizens, whether amounting to a
majority or a minority of the whole, who are united
and actuated by some common impulse of passion,
or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens,
or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the
community”
Why are factions to be feared?
”…the public good is disregarded in the
conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are
too often decided, not according to the rules of
justice and the rights of the minor party, but by
the superior force of an interested and
overbearing majority.“
How does Madison propose we
deal with factions?
How to Deal with Factions
1-Destroying the liberty which is essential
to its existence
“LIBERTY IS TO FACTION WHAT AIR IS TO FIRE.”
2-By giving to every citizen the same
opinions and the same passions.
If factions do exist, how
do you control their
effects?
In a pure democracy, a minority faction poses
little threat because it can be easily outvoted and
suppressed.
A majority faction, however, through popular vote,
has the power to completely control the
government.
Therefore, modifications must be made to
democratic government to keep the majority from
oppressing minority groups or acting against the
good of the nation.
Small of Large Republic?
A large republic will consist of a greater variety
of parties, so that one will less likely be able to
suppress the others.
Also, a greater number of votes would be required
to elect each representative.
This is preferable because it ensures that
politicians cannot use underhanded tricks to
secure positions as easily as they could if elected
by a smaller body of voters, [small republic] thus
Increasing the likelihood that only the best
candidates will be elected
Why are factions better controlled in a republic?
A republic, could preserve popular government while allowing
a measure of consideration for the rights of the minority.
A republican government is run by representatives chosen by
the people, rather than by the people themselves.
Representatives, if wise and just, are more likely to vote with
the interests of the people [want to get reelected], rather than
their own selfish passions.
•The three main
arguments of
Federalist 51
Separation of Powers
Rationale
“It is evident that each department [3 branches]
should have a will of its own; and consequently
should be so constituted that the members of each
should have as little agency [influence] as possible in
the appointment of the members of the others”
Popular Sovereignty
Rationale
“….all the appointments for the supreme executive,
legislative, and judiciary magistracies should be
drawn from the same fountain of authority, the people.
Checks and Balances
Rationale
“But the great security against a gradual
concentration of the several powers in the same
department, consists in giving to those who
administer each department the necessary
constitutional means and personal motives to resist
encroachments of the others”
Analyze the following quotes:
“If men were angels, no
government would be necessary”
“You must first enable the
government to control the
governed; and in the next place
oblige it to control itself”
“Ambition must be made to
counteract ambition”
It is of great importance in a republic,
not only to guard the society against the
oppression of its rulers; but to guard one
part of the society against the injustice
of the other part.