Federalist Papers #10 Essay
United we stand, divided we fall
The Federalist Papers Number 10 is written by James Madison and explains the necessity of the Constitution to protect our country from factions. A faction is “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or 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 aggregate interests of the community (Publius, 72).” Publius states that there are two ways to get rid of factions. The first way to eliminate a faction is to take the Liberty away from all of the people in the faction. The other way to cure a faction is to give everyone the same opinion. Both of this solutions are not possible because the first is unwise and the second is impracticable. Publius states that we must find an alternative way to control factions and he explains how the constitution will do that. The argument that Federalist Papers Number 10 make is that our country must protect itself from factions or we will not be successful. Publius says that protecting our self from faction is necessary because popular formation of factious thoughts will never go away, stating that “the latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man (Publius,73).” Publius also states that as long as the reason of man continues to be fallible and he is at liberty to exercise his reason, then different opinions will be formed. Since human nature will not disappear and faction is tied to human nature, we must find a solution for faction. Factions most commonly come from “the various and unequal distribution of property (Publius,74).” An example of such a faction is the set of people that hold property as opposed to those who do not hold property. The reason that these two groups of people form different factions is because each group has their own separate interest that will benefit their group and not benefit the other. Many different classes of people have
The Federalist Papers Number 10 is written by James Madison and explains the necessity of the Constitution to protect our country from factions. A faction is “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or 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 aggregate interests of the community (Publius, 72).” Publius states that there are two ways to get rid of factions. The first way to eliminate a faction is to take the Liberty away from all of the people in the faction. The other way to cure a faction is to give everyone the same opinion. Both of this solutions are not possible because the first is unwise and the second is impracticable. Publius states that we must find an alternative way to control factions and he explains how the constitution will do that. The argument that Federalist Papers Number 10 make is that our country must protect itself from factions or we will not be successful. Publius says that protecting our self from faction is necessary because popular formation of factious thoughts will never go away, stating that “the latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man (Publius,73).” Publius also states that as long as the reason of man continues to be fallible and he is at liberty to exercise his reason, then different opinions will be formed. Since human nature will not disappear and faction is tied to human nature, we must find a solution for faction. Factions most commonly come from “the various and unequal distribution of property (Publius,74).” An example of such a faction is the set of people that hold property as opposed to those who do not hold property. The reason that these two groups of people form different factions is because each group has their own separate interest that will benefit their group and not benefit the other. Many different classes of people have
Cited: Publius. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, 1961. Print.