...governments from enforcing ex post facto laws (laws that allow punishment for an action that was not criminal at the time it was undertaken) and provisions barring bills of attainder. The framers, and notably James Madison, its architect, believed that the Constitution protected liberty primarily through its division of powers that made it difficult for an oppressive majorities to form and capture power to be used against minorities. In the ratification debate, Anti-Federalists opposed to the Constitution, complained that the new system threatened liberties, and suggested that if the delegates had truly cared about protecting individual rights, they would have included provisions that accomplished that. With ratification in serious doubt, Federalists announced a willingness to take up the matter of a series of amendments, to be called the Bill of Rights, soon after ratification and the First Congress came into session. The concession was undoubtedly necessary to secure the Constitution's hard-fought ratification. Thomas Jefferson, who did not attend the Constitutional Convention, in a December 1787 letter to Madison called the omission of a Bill of Rights a major mistake: "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on Earth." James Madison was skeptical of the value of...
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...Federalist Papers #10 Thesis: In the Federalist Papers #10, James Madison argues that the United States needs a stronger central government than that of the one outlined in the Articles of Confederation in order to ensure that the country will be safe from the violence of factions. Evidence: James Madison evidently supports his thesis by explaining the problem with the government summarized in the Articles of Confederation as well as by focusing on the need for a powerful primary leadership within the states. Due to the fact that the United Stated had recently separated itself from the tyranny of Great Britain, the Articles of Confederation was created to portray a government that is too weak to be practical. Madison states that there...
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...James Madison was born March 16, 1751, Belle Grove too a large family that was very wealthy , Port Conway and grew up in Orange county. James madison was the founding father of the United States and the fourth American president and one of the many Americas important political philosophers serving in office from 1809 to 1817. ANd for writing much of the U.S constitution and the entire bill of rights. Madison was considered shy, soft-spoken, shrill, and very intellectual. Growing up james became very sick and unhealthy, but he was so interested and determined too his studies too even worry about his sickness. Madison entered politics when he was 25 as a delegate in virginia's state legislature,at this time it was 1776 the start of the american revolution,...
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...The Federalist papers were for persuading to make federal system. Madison argues for the brilliance of a republican democracy. The key point to a proper understanding of James Madison’s argument on extended republic is to keep in mind that he distinguished two different types of tyranny. James Madison recognized pure democracy which was consisted of few citizens and republic which is a government with a representative system. The Republicanism was from for balancing direct democracy between representative democracies. According to the Madison’s definition, early Republic is like democracy. He insisted that the main differences between republic and democracy are first, republic system means politics was managed by elected few people. On the other hand, as an increase of citizens and the territory of the States, the potential of republic system would expand. Madison believed that new republic needs to set up a system of checks and balances. From the factions’ issues, Maddison prefers aggregation of public and democracy...
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...in place. The Articles of Confederation led to the Constitution of the United States. Although similar in some aspects, very different in others. The articles had many weaknesses that were changed in the Constitution. There were many compromises made between the states in order to effectively draft the Constitution. Roger Sherman’s Plan kept the Constitutional Convention together which was later known as the Great Compromise. The fight for the Constitution had just begun and the ratification processes needed to take place. Even with some states being in favor of the Constitution it would take time to get the nine states needed to complete this process. The states in favor would called themselves The Federalist and those opposed were called the Anti-Federalist. The Federalist set out to change the mind of the remaining states with a series of letters that were written to newspapers. The Articles of Confederation were used as a base for the Constitution. The ideas from the Articles of Confederation were used in the writing of the Constitution. Both the Articles and the Constitution established “federal” systems of multiple sovereigns whose continued existence was constitutionally guaranteed. Despite the fact that both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution established federal systems, there were certain fundamental differences between the two systems. The Articles of Confederation gave states the power of federal government whereas the Constitution derived its authority...
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...Despite the concerted efforts of Patrick Henry and all of the rest of the Anti-Federalists, James Madison had succeeded in sponsoring the Bill of Rights and preventing the nation from suffering the consequences of a second constitutional convention. The first two amendments put forward by Congress fell short of ratification and were discarded. Thus, we have a Bill of Rights with 10 amendments. Over the more than 225 years since ratification, the Bill of Rights has assumed greater and greater importance. Originally the Bill of Rights was mostly intended to limit the powers of the new government, however, since then it has become fundamental in securing the rights of citizens against the state and the government. Eventually the Fourth through...
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...James Madison holds the most significance out of all our founding fathers. Madison drafted the major points in our constitution, was one out of three contributing authors of the federalists papers, and advocated the Bill of Rights. He pushed for a system of checks and balances to ease the fears of those who worried that an executive would gain an unfair amount of power. The colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776 where the Articles of Confederation were created as the first constitution of the United States. In May 1787, delegates gathered at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia , where Madison was able to start his ideas for an effective government system in his “Virginia Plan,” which described a government with three branches known as legislative, executive, and judicial. Madison helped Virginia evolve their constitution, securing the Virginia Plan that served as the basis for the debate in the addition of the U.S. constitution. He argued firmly for a strong central government that would bring the country together. Playing a strong role in the ratification process, Madison...
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...“The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.”(Madison, 1787) The Federalists, writing under the pseudonym Publius, advocated a strong central government in the new nation. They argued against the Anti-Federalist writers like Brutus, whose ideas of an effective government resided with stronger state governments. Both views of the Federalists and the Anti-federalists were justified in unifying the newly emancipated American colonies. While there is much debate on who theoretically won the political battle that resulted in the ratification of the constitution in 1789, it is clear that the modern American government no longer represents James Madison ideals of a balanced federal...
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...Georgeana Trevino October 30, 2015 POLS 2301 05 US & Texas Government I Dr. Dongkyu Kim Critical Review of Federalist Papers Summary: James Madison's Paper #10 was preceded by Hamilton's Paper #9, which also discusses the fighting and the rebelling of the factions against the Union. Debatably the most famous of the Federalist papers, Madison discusses the menace of factions, faction-development, commonness with others that everyone has and why the enforcement of an authoritative government or a dictatorship would reject our right to liberty. Madison further says that a larger republic would be necessary to transform into a representative government that would allow the people themselves to vote for who is elected. Madison is leaning toward keeping the interest of the citizens who voted the person in power to reduce the factions problem. Also, the indirect representation would ensure the election of the best man. Analysis: James Madison was devoted to the principles of a republic and liberty, you can see this throughout his paper and in the specific arguments he brings up. The first argument that he brings up is about the inseparability of factions and liberty. He suggests that the government should not be concentrated on trying to prevent the causes of faction, but just control its effects. He states that in order to remove the causes that excite the development of factions you must either destroy the liberty that is essential for political life, and he states that...
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...In American discourse separation of powers is more a name than a description. None of the three branches (legislative, executive, or judicial) of the national government are clearly separate from one another. Congress, for example, has an impeachment club to check the others; the president's veto power is plainly legislative in nature. No wonder James Madison in The Federalist, no. 47, undertook to answer the Anti‐Federalist charge that “The several departments of power are [not separated but] blended in such a manner as at once to destroy all symmetry and beauty of form, and to expose some of the essential parts of the edifice to the danger of being crushed by the disproportionate weight of other parts.” Madison's answer was that Montesquieu—the “oracle” of separation—did not mean that “departments ought to have no partial agency in, or control over, the acts of each other.” He meant rather that “the whole power of one department [should not be] exercised by the same hands which possess the whole power of another department.” The merit of “blending,” according to Madison, was that, along with bicameralism and federalism, it produced a safety net of “checks and balances.” A crucial problem is that split power inevitably entails split accountability. No wonder then that so many difficulties in American government spring ultimately from its divided power system. In contrast, the parliamentary system seeks safety in clear, direct lines of electoral accountability—and less in a...
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...The Federalist papers were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. These were a series of eighty-five anonymous essays published in the New York newspapers. The main focus of the Federalist papers was to convince the people to ratify the proposed United States Constitution. During this time period, the people of the states were hesitant of the new written constitution. They were concerned that this new proposed form of government was going to be a too similar setup as to the King they had just fought a war to declare independence from. The states were also concerned that they were going to lose the majority of their powers to a declared and newly established federal government. The federalist papers were written with the intent of informing...
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...Chapter 11 - The Triumphs and Travails of Jeffersonian Republic I. Federalist and Republican Mudslingers 1. In the election of 1800, the Federalists had a host of enemies stemming from the Alien and Sedition Acts. 2. The Federalists had been most damaged by John Adams’ not declaring war against France. * They had raised a bunch of taxes and built a good navy, and then had not gotten any reason to justify such spending, making them seem fraudulent as they had also swelled the public debt. * John Adams became known as “the Father of the American Navy.” * Federalists also launched attacks on Jefferson, saying that he had robbed a widow and her children of a trust fund, fathered numerous children with his slaves (which turned out to be true), called him an atheist (he was a Deist), and used other inflammatory remarks. II. The Jeffersonian “Revolution of 1800” 1. Thomas Jefferson won the election of 1800 by a majority of 73 electoral votes to 65, and even though Adams got more popular votes, Jefferson got New York. But, even though Jefferson triumphed, in a technicality he and Aaron Burr tied for presidency. * The vote, according to the Constitution, would now go to the Federalist-dominated House of Representatives. * Hateful of Jefferson, many wanted to vote for Burr, and the vote was deadlocked for months until Alexander Hamilton and John Adams persuaded a few House members to change their votes, knowing that if ...
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...Federalist: The Federalists were originally those forces in favor of the ratification of the Constitution. A desire to establish a strong central government. Federalists felt strongly that the inability of the United States, operating under the Articles of Confederation, to implement protective tariffs had led to the uncontrolled flood of manufactured items that were depressing the new nation's economy. They pointed out that the European powers were not likely to negotiate thirteen separate commercial treaties, and that Britain was well served by letting the situation fester. The term "Federalist" was later applied to the emerging political faction headed by Alexander Hamilton in George Washington's administration. Revolution of 1800: Some observers have regarded Jefferson's election in 1800 as revolutionary. This may be true in a restrained sense of the word, since the change from Federalist leadership to Republican was entirely legal and bloodless. Nevertheless, the changes were profound. The Federalists lost control of both the presidency and the Congress. By 1800, the American people were ready for a change. Under Washington and Adams, the Federalists had established a strong government. They sometimes failed, however, to honor the principle that the American government must be responsive to the will of the people. They had followed policies that alienated large groups. For example, in 1798 they enacted a tax on houses, land and slaves, affecting every property owner in...
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...The constitution can be defined as the supreme law of the United States of America,that establishes rules and distinctive powers of the federal Government. Keith Whittington on his report,How to read the constitution, precisely defines the constitution as “an act of communication, of instruction, from the supreme lawmaker within the American constitutional system to government officials. It conveys their intentions as to what power government officials would have, how that power would be organized, to what legitimate purposes that power could be used, and what limitations there would be on that power”(Whittington,2006). On looking at the constitution written by our founding fathers,it clearly begins by explaining why it was established and the underlying reason of protecting and upholding the fundamental values and interests of the American people.It starts by declaring “We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”(The constitution,1787). In article one, it talks of the representation of all the states and rotational election of senators(which I think is important in a democratic government) as well as the making of the necessary laws empowering the government in its execution of...
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...III) Articles of Confed a) Confederation b) Specific Terms c) General Results d) Shays Rebellion IV) Constitution a) 4 key debates B) Specific terms of the articles (about the national govt.) • Unicameral legislature • No power to tax • No power to raise army • No executive branch (could make laws but not enforce them) • No judicial branch • Unanimous vote needed to change Articles C) General results of the Articles • Weak and incomplete national govt. • Economic chaos o States fund the war by borrowing money from federal govt. o Govt. wants the money back o Economy dries up and leads to a “trade war” with competing interest o States taxes their own citizens since they can’t borrow money o People (mostly farmers) lose their possessions and property since they can’t pay taxes o Damages the economy even more since farm family is out of work • No sufficient national defense o Enemy 1 the British o French and the Spanish also potential threats o Native Indian tribes also potential threat • States are left largely on their own (13 separate states, no unity) D) Shay’s Rebellion 4 Key debates 1. Representation of the states (large population vs. small population) o States might be equal but not for individuals o Creates a Bicameral Legislation (2 houses) 1. Senate 2. House of reps (representation based on population) which is known as “the great compromise” o Defensive compromise; better at not getting stuff done than getting stuff done. 2. Slavery...
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