The Federalist Papers and the Constitution

I used my trusty Nook to download a copy of the Federalist Papers. Isn't technology wonderful? Who would have thought that I could walk around with a copy of the Federalist papers in my hand and available at the push of a button? It cost me a whopping $2.99. Since these papers seem to have achieved Biblical status with many members of the Tea Party movement, I thought it was a worthwhile investment. Thus far I have read around 300 out of some 1200 pages and 29 out of about 85 articles, but I still think there are a few points that are worth making at this stage of my reading.

An initial concern is that too often these papers are used the same way many use the Bible. Quotes are identified that bolster a particular argument. This methodology is faulty whether one is using scripture or the Federalist Papers. Such documents need to be studied in their entirety to determine their purpose and the core of what the document is trying to say. To just zero in on one or a few comments, which we often do with political speeches, is frequently unfair and not a real indicator of what an individual actually believes.

Why were the Federalist Papers written? There would be no such document except that the authors wanted to persuade the citizenry as to the importance of the new Constitution being adopted. Jay, Madison, and Hamilton all saw it as vital to the future of the nation that a strong federal government be put in place. These documents make clear that the Articles of Confederation were inadequate to the needs of the country and that the individual states would have to give up some of their rights if the United States of America was to survive.

Alexander Hamilton in paper #15 speaks of the weakness of the Confederation and its inability even to ensure that bills were paid. He says, "we have neither troops, nor treasury, nor government." Clearly the Federalist Papers and the Constitution itself grew out of a practical need to address deficiencies of the time. Can the founding fathers expect anything less of us in our own time? An example of how these founding fathers and the Constitution are time bound is how often they speak of how our distance across an ocean from other countries protects us from harm. Clearly this is not an operative argument in today's modern world. It is also mentioned that the size or smallness of the country enables us to be an effective democratic government. We've grown a little bit since that time. These points are illustrative of how the world has changed and how we must accommodate the operation of our government to the changing times.

In strong and persuasive language the authors indicate several areas which require a strong federal government. These important areas include the defense of the country, commerce, full powers of taxation, and a federal system of courts, judges, etc. Specifically, in all these areas the states must defer to the national government and must comply fully with federal laws, regulations, and taxes.

In terms of defense it is argued that the strength of our nation comes from being united. In the Civil War we fought to maintain that unity because it is through unity that we have become a great power. The founding father's understood this. They pointed out that 13 states would be constantly bickering with each other and could not present a unified front to the world. If the union had been dissolved imagine how we could have confronted the Soviet Union, Japan etc. as small individual countries. Each section of the union has strengths and weaknesses and that strength comes from unity.

Commerce is an example of how the union prospers through what each section of the country has to offer. The fedaral government makes it possible for each section of the country to provide their resources to the country as a whole and to draw strength from the valuable resources of other sections of the country. These papers focus on how each state trying to develop treaties and trade agreements on their own became a global joke and prevented valuable commerce from operating smooothly.

One of the main concern of the authors of the Federalist Papers was the lack of revenue and the inability of the country to pay its bills. They made clear that taxation was necessary. The government needed to find and utilize all means to collect taxes whether on property, consumption, or other appropriate measures. Madison in paper #12 says, "A nation cannot long exist without revenues ... Revenue, therefore, must be had at all events" The need to have a viable tax collection system was critical. Madison adds, "government can never obtain an adequate supply, unless all the sources of revenue are open to its demands." It is useful to keep in mind these admonitions when we focus only on the cry of 'taxation without representation', and when we listen to the demands of current politicians to reduce revenues perhaps to the point that once again we cannot pay our bills.

Madison also highlights the importance of a federal system of courts and laws. He says, "Government implies the power of making laws. It is essential to the idea of a law, that it be attended with a sanction' .... or they are nothing more than advice or recommendation." He adds, " Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without restraint." Again, the present day attacks on government fail to recognize how critical it is if any of us are to succeed.

Let me just say in closing these preliminary remarks on the Federalist Papers, that our country today is troubled by a division that is greater than anything I have seen in my lifetime. Is it possible that we are headed in the direction of conflict that while it may not result in another Civil War, could end in the dissolution of the nation? When one of the front runners for the Republican Presidential nomination not so long ago seriously suggested that his state might secede from this union it should give us all pause. The purpose of the constitution was to help create a better country for all of us and whatever would help achieve that outcome was what the founding fathers were interested in. A couple of closing quotes from these famous papers might be instructive in that regard.

James Madison in paper #14 said, "We have seen the necessity of the Union as our bulwark against foreign danger, as the conservator of peace among ourselves, as the guardian of our commerce and other common interests....and as the proper antidote for the diseases of faction, which have proved fatal to other popular governments, and of which alarming symptoms have been betrayed by our own.

Alexander Hamilton in paper #15 said, "I have endeavored, my fellow citizens, to place before you, in a clear and convincing light, the importance of Union ... I have unfolded to you a complication of dangers to which you would be exposed, should you permit that sacred knot which binds the people of America together to be severed or disolved by ambition or by avarice, by jealousy or by misrepresentation."