The Federalist Papers were written in an urging attempt to get the citizens of New York to approve of the United States Constitution in 1787. The papers were made up of 85 essays and the two most well known sections were essays number 10 and 51, written by James Madison. Madison explains in these two essays the issues and solutions in order for the union to be strong and act as one.
Madison starts essay number ten by stating the constitution establishes a government capable of controlling harm which was caused by individuals who only care about their own financial well being. Madison believed in an collectivist approach rather than an individualistic in order to achieve economic success. Whether citizens opposed or supported the federalist papers, they all still worried about the interference of rival factions. Citizens did not have faith or trust within the federal government and this would resolve to them blaming all of their own problems on the government. Unfortunately, factions are impossible to avoid since every citizen has their own social status (property) and wealth.
So, the only way to go about these factions is to try and control them. Madison believed in order to do so, we need to remove its causes and control its effects. We cannot remove its causes due to the fact that this will take away citizens liberty and free will. The government issued from the constitution can regulate the damages factions place on society. However, in order for this ideology to succeed, Madison believed that we must have strong and intelligent leaders for this new hierarchy. If men who are apart of these large factions end up in control, this can lead to corruption and not what is best for the people. As a result, in order for our country to be safe and prosperous, we need to have a secure federal government whose interests benefit everyone in the union and instead of their own.
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In essay number fifty one, James Madison states that one branch of government should not have more power to control the selection process of branch members then the others. He believes in a form of independency between each of the branches. If everyone obeyed by these laws, it should be in the hands of the people to decide who shall become the judges, legislators, and the president. Madison also mentions that not all men are angels and when they are given power they tend to abuse it. As seen earlier in essay number ten, Madison again brings up the notion of framing and that the biggest challenge government officials have is to control themselves from all of the power.
Once they let this image of power get in their heads, they will have an individualistic mindset instead of thinking what is best for the people. Unfortunately, there is no form of government that can have power equally distributed. This arises the idea of a defense mechanism against legislative tyranny. In order to protect ourselves, we must create a community will that will be larger than a simple majority. If not done correctly though, this can lead to dangerous outcomes due to the government getting behind the group working in a disagreement with what’s best for society. Since there are so many societal groups to come out of the constitution, there will be different interests and ideologies which will make it hard for one specific group to dominate.
In these two essays, Madison expresses his interpretation of how we can succeed as one union. Madison highlights in both essays that it is essential for society to choose government officials who not try and seek personal economic gain but who seek what is best for this union and the citizens inside of it. He believed that if we can achieve this, we will be successful under a federal government.
