Federalist No. 2

John Jay, author of Federalist No. 2

Federalist No. 2 is an article written by John Jay as the second essay of The Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. These essays, written by Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, were published under the pseudonym "Publius".^[1] Federalist No. 2, titled "Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence",^[2] was published on October 31, 1787, as the first of four essays written by Jay. In it, Jay addresses the advantages of a unified government over separate sovereignties. He discusses how an undivided country enforces laws with more efficiency, resolves conflicts, and gives better protection from foreign influences, such as military force.

Background

The American Revolutionary War was very tough on the colonies, and despite the victory over England, the colonies were nowhere prepared to run their own country. They forced their mother country of England out and now they were on their own. There were people that were strongly against the colonies to be a free nation as the question was how would they handle everything. Being dependent on England for many years had its positives and negatives. Although there were much more negatives of British rule, such as obeying British orders and paying their taxes, more problems arose as the colonies detached themselves from England. They were not on the same level, militarily, with other European nations such as Britain and France. Specifically those two powerful countries had a large influence along the North Atlantic coastline. Many were worried that one of the European powers would try to come back to the United States. This would cause our nation to return to its colonial status or limitation of American sovereignty. It was time to take matters into their own hands and the decisions that were to be made for the future split the colonies apart. That was the moment in American history when the Federalist Papers came into play. They were documents that made critical advancements of a then disorderly nation. The documents which are basically publications of essays that were published throughout 1787 and 1788 by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton under the pen name of "Publius." The authors are now famously referred to as the Founding Fathers of America for their noticeable contributions. Federalist Paper Two written by John Jay is entirely dedicated to unity. Jay argues that a strong Union of American States would give the best opportunity to strive and survive for centuries to come.^[3]

Jay's argument

Jay begins his article by remarking that his argument addresses those that assume that dividing the United States of America is more beneficial than uniting the country.^[4] He wants to emphasize to nonbelievers that the nation will be governed by a strong but necessary system.

He explains that a unified government is crucial in solving conflict within the country. Before the Constitution was in effect, many states had their own foreign policies and their own currencies which "made trade between states and other countries extremely difficult". In addition, the government had no power to tax the states which meant that the government had little money to pay back debts resulting from the Revolutionary War.^[5] Jay asserted that a strong central government would ease these discords with a unitary foreign policy, monetary system, and equal, fair tax on all citizens.

He also argues that a unified government would better protect the country from foreign influences, such as war. Separate states are not concerned for the safety of the whole country and their individual pacts with foreign countries would not help other states; it may even harm other states if one state decides to call upon its foreign ally to invade its neighbors. A central government would make alliances and create a policy that benefits all of the country. Moreover, a unified nation will have a better and stronger military, with so many states to contribute soldiers and money to fund the program, the country will have a superior army as opposed to fragmented forces.^[6]

Counterarguments

The ratification of the Constitution was not the only reason for the writing of The Federalist Papers. They were written as a response to the Antifederalist papers that were written by a variety of authors that published under the pseudonym "Brutus". The Antifederalist papers were arguments opposing the ratification of the Constitution and, instead, encouraging a weaker, centralized government and stronger state governments. There were direct articles between the Federalists and Antifederalists that conflicted each other. Federalist paper No. 2’s counterpart was Anti Federalist No. 1. Federalist tries to state that having one centralized government is nearly impossible as the extent and progression of the united states would hinder the legislative control. “Not only the opinion of the greatest men, and the experience of mankind, are against the idea of an extensive republic, but a variety of reasons may be drawn from the reason and nature of things, against it. In every government, the will of the sovereign is the law. In despotic governments, the supreme authority being lodged in one, his will is law, and can be as easily expressed to a large extensive territory as to a small one. In a pure democracy the people are the sovereign, and their will is declared by themselves; for this purpose they must all come together to deliberate, and decide. This kind of government cannot be exercised, therefore, over a country of any considerable extent; it must be confined to a single city, or at least limited to such bounds as that the people can conveniently assemble, be able to debate, understand the subject submitted to them, and declare their opinion concerning it.”^[7] Anti Federalist No.1 discusses how having a a centralized government adjourn, legislate, and delegate a country of this size was infeasible. In the form of democracy that America was seeking, having a centralized democratic republic would be difficult as to enforcing the law as well as making creating policy. In order to create policy all the representatives would have to all meet at one specified location at one specified time, creating slower and less efficient sort of government. The anti-federalist argued that having a centralized government was a form of reins on the states and limited their power.

References

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Federalist No. 2

• The Federalist No. 2 text