A big part of our distrust of Government stems from our belief that most of our elected officials are bought and paid for. They are owned by lobbyists, wealthy people and special interest corporations. Pretty much everyone agrees that the problem of our politics starts with money. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Just what did Hamilton try to warn us about?
Not everyone knows about the Federalist Papers, but they tell us a great deal about what our Founding Fathers were thinking as they were writing the new United States Constitution. The Federalist Papers are a compilation of eighty-five essays outlining how the new government would operate and why this type of government was right for the United States of America. There is general agreement that Alexander Hamilton wrote fifty-two, James Madison wrote twenty-eight, and John Jay penned the remaining five essays. The Federalist Papers were published during the years 1787 and 1788 in several New York State newspapers, with the goal to persuade New York voters that ratification of the proposed constitution was the right thing to do.
Here, we are talking about Federalist No. 9; The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection. Federalist No. 9 was published in the Independent Journal on Wednesday, November 21st, 1787 and was written by Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was warning us that if we let our guard down the factions would take over our Constitutional Government to our detriment. We the people, you and me, are the basis of our “Union.” “Insurrection” (synonymous with rebellion, revolution, mutiny and uprising) is the descriptor he used for the failed “union” that he believed would be the result of a domestic factional takeover. The first paragraph of Federalist No. 9 reads:
“A FIRM Union will be of the utmost moment to the peace and liberty of the States, as a barrier against domestic faction and insurrection. It is impossible to read the history of the petty republics of Greece and Italy without feeling sensations of horror and disgust at the distractions with which they were continually agitated, and at the rapid succession of revolutions by which they were kept in a state of perpetual vibration between the extremes of tyranny and anarchy. If they exhibit occasional calms, these only serve as short-lived contrast to the furious storms that are to succeed. If now and then intervals of felicity open to view, we behold them with a mixture of regret, arising from the reflection that the pleasing scenes before us are soon to be overwhelmed by the tempestuous waves of sedition and party rage. If momentary rays of glory break forth from the gloom, while they dazzle us with a transient and fleeting brilliancy, they at the same time admonish us to lament that the vices of government should pervert the direction and tarnish the lustre of those bright talents and exalted endowments for which the favored soils that produced them have been so justly celebrated.”
Please take a moment and look around. Do we behave in a way that would suggest a “union”? With all the dysfunction we see, wouldn’t you agree that we are experiencing something more along the lines of an “insurrection”? When we look around, don’t we witness behaviors that make us think we are not in charge of our republican democracy? These thoughts are the basis for my belief that Hamilton was on to something important when he wrote Federalist No. 9 and we would do well to pay attention.
November 21st, 1787 was just a few days over two months from the date, September 17th, 1787, that the new United States Constitution was signed and sent to the States for ratification. Hamilton knew that a successful democracy works best when its citizens are free to express their own opinions and ideas during debate. Only an unrestrained sharing of ideas would lead to a determination of a position that the majority of citizens would support. Of course, Hamilton was well aware that our republican democracy wasn’t a pure democracy. The citizens of our democracy were to be represented in the governmental proceedings by someone who had been elected by the citizens themselves.
We don’t have to stretch our brains to figure out that within a democratic proceeding when groups of participants start to coalesce on a continuing basis; the effectiveness of the democracy will be diminished. When the will of the individual starts to be thwarted and subjugated to the will of the group, any group, the democracy ceases to be democratic. It probably goes without saying that these groupings are the factions that Alexander Hamilton was writing about in Federalist No. 9.
Can anyone think of a more powerful faction than a political party as we know them today? When you add up all the money they take in and pass out to candidates all over the company can anyone argue that they are not the biggest spenders? We have laws that are supposed to help us be sure that political contributions come from proper sources, but with the recently demonstrated disregard for the laws of our Nation can we really trust that improper monies are not finding their way into our political system. Our two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans both demonstrate a willingness to spin the political news of the day. Both are said to use daily talking points so that their membership all sound like they are singing from the same sheet of music when they arrive at any convenient microphone. The Republicans appear to be more successful at getting their membership to toe the party line, but the Democrats are working hard to herd all their cats to a common message as well.
Political parties have been part of our system of government for so long that none of us were around when they weren’t involved. The earliest versions formed as the Pro-Administration and the Anti-Administration parties while President George Washington was in office. The earliest parties were not as egregious as the parties are today, but they were pushing the envelope of their time in much the same way as we now observe. Over our history we have gradually allowed the parties to take charge of our political conversation. We have allowed them to tell us what to think and what to say about our politics. If we want to have a Government that is responsive to our majority, we must find a way to make our thinking and our ideas less a matter of the party agenda and more a matter of street corner dialogue.
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11th, 1755 so he would have been thirty-two years old when all of these founding activities of our Nation were taking place. Alexander Hamilton was thirty-two when he wrote Federalist No. 9. Hamilton was thirty-two when he warned us about the dangers of “factions”. Alexander Hamilton is surely one of the brightest thirty-two year olds we will ever have the occasion to read about. At thirty-two Alexander Hamilton had a great deal of wisdom to share with the citizens of this great Nation. The question is, are we yet ready to listen?
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