Who, What, When, Where, Why and How notes that I made and excerpts that I took during my reading of the Federalist Papers (number signs (#) denote the Federalist Paper number).

1. What are the Federalist Papers?

a. It is the authoritative guide to the practice of our constitution

b. They are 85 essays that came out as 85 separate newspaper articles in the daily local newspapers of the time, one essay every three or four days over the course of four months

c. It was not a random set of articles, it was a whole cohesive work of political science

d. It is often cited by Supreme court justices when writing opinions and dissents on court cases

2. Who wrote the Federalist Papers?

a. Alexander Hamilton planned the whole project and wrote 60% of it, James Madison 35%, John Jay only 5% (having taken ill that winter)

b. All essays had Publius in the byline (Publius was the savior of Rome)

c. Because they were all signed Publius and they were written in the same style, it is not known exactly who wrote what and some essays have been attributed to both Hamilton and Madison working together

3. Where were the Federalist Papers written?

a. New York City

b. Hamilton who was 30 years old at the time was living in New York City

c. John Jay (41 years old) was living in Katonah, New York in Westchester County

i. Jay was the first chief justice of the US Supreme Court

d. Madison (36 years old) was visiting New York at the time and Hamilton recruited him to work on the project

4. When were the Federalist Papers written? Answer: 1787 to 1788, Here is the timeline relative to other important events

a. 1776 – Declaration of Independence, revolutionary war begins

b. 1783 – Americans win the Revolutionary War

c. 1787 – Constitutional Convention from May to September

d. 1787 – Bill of Rights were proposed following the often bitter debates over the ratification of the Constitution, they were written to address the objections raised by those who opposed the Constitution (the anti-federalists)

e. 1787 to 1788 – Hamilton, Madison and Jay write and publish the Federalist Papers

f. 1788 – Constitution is ratified by 9 of the 13 colonies and the new federal government is launched

g. 1789 to 1797 – George Washington’s first and second terms as president

h. 1791 – Bill of Rights ratified as the first 10 amendments to the Constitution

5. How were the Federalist papers written?

a. 85 essays which equates to about 400 pages
i. Federalist Papers #1-#37 cover the problems and inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation

ii. 38-51 present the general principles of the new Constitution and argue how these principles better met the needs of the Union

iii. 52-61 the House of Representatives

iv. 62-66 the Senate

v. 67-77 the Presidency

vi. 78-83 the Federal Judiciary

vii. 84-85 the conclusion

b. The drafters of the Constitution poured over philosophers who had written about government theory such as Locke, Hume and Montesquieu

c. They closely studied the history of republics from ancient Greece to modern times and the reasons for the failure of those republics

i. Digression: Republic versus Democracy
1. A republic was preferable to a democracy because the problems with democracy were:
a. Something had to be done to cure the majority factions

b. Majority rule can be bad as well as good

i. The majority can be a religious sect

c. Slavery was a majority faction acting against the rights of others

d. The Athenian democracy tried Socrates, convicted him and sentenced him to death

2. Election of representatives, a republic, was the solution

a. The voters choose the people that choose for the people

b. A representative “refines and enlarges” the decision making for the people

c. With a republic there is a sense of common self-sacrifice for the public good

d. Put government in the hands of many so that the main questions are addressed by the people

e. The right choice requires virtue

f. People have to be persuaded that the choice is right

3. #64 (Jay on the Electoral College) The president is to be chosen by select bodies of electors. This mode has, in such cases, vastly the advantage of elections by the people in their collective capacity where the activity of party zeal, taking advantage of the supineness, the ignorance, and the hopes and fears of the unwary and interested often places men in office by the votes of a small proportion of the electors

d. They wanted to protect the citizens of the United States against mankind's tendency to be evil, and they knew that this inclination included people in power. Here are some references to this inclination that occur in the Federalist Papers:

i. #6 (Hamilton) men are vindictive ambitious and rapacious

ii. #78 (Hamilton) The variety of controversies which grow out of the folly and wickedness of mankind…the ordinary depravity of human nature

iii. #59 (Hamilton) Some administrators prefer their own emolument and advancement to the public weal

iv. #84 (Hamilton) There is nothing clearer than that the suggestion is entirely void of foundation and is the offspring of extreme ignorance or extreme dishonesty

v. #51 (Madison) But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. [If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary] In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place oblige it to control itself

vi. #55 (Madison) In all very numerous assemblies, of whatever characters composed, passion never fails to wrest the scepter from reason. Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob

vii. #63 (Madison) Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty as well as by the abuses of power: and the former, rather than the latter, is apparently most to be apprehended by the United States

viii. #76 (Hamilton) The supposition of universal venality in human nature is little less an error in political reasoning than the supposition of universal rectitude

ix. Definition of Sophistry: subtly deceptive reasoning or argumentation

e. The US Constitution was written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787

i. 55 delegates write the Constitution, 39 sign it (a 70% majority)

ii. George Washington was the president of the convention

iii. Roger Sherman was a delegate at the Constitutional Convention representing CT who helped to forge what became known as the Connecticut Compromise

1. Virginia wanted the number of legislators determined by the size of the population in each state while New Jersey wanted each state to appoint the same number of legislators

2. Roger Sherman proposed that the legislature consist of two chambers, the house of representatives in which the number of delegates was to be determined by the size of the population in each state, and the senate in which each state gets two senators

3. Digression: #83 (Hamilton's praise for Connecticut) It is a notorious fact that Connecticut which has been always regarded as the most popular state in the union…

4. Connecticut is referred to as the "Constitution State" because it is believed by many historians to have the first written constitution which dates back to January 24, 1639

6. Why were the Federalist Papers written?

a. The national government before the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, failed to execute its enactments
i. There was an abuse of power by state legislatures during the times of the Articles of Confederation

ii. Taming of liberties’ excesses evident in the Articles of Confederation

iii. There was no recourse if states didn’t pay taxes demanded by the Articles of Confederation

iv. Shays Rebellion was an armed uprising near Springfield Massachusetts during 1786 and 1787 in response to a debt crisis among the citizenry and in opposition to the Massachusetts state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades

1. Led by Captain Daniel Shays included about 4,000 rebels

2. Revolutionary war veterans went unpaid and returned home with debts, they were seeking relief for their debts.

3. Under the Articles of Confederation the continental congress asked individual states to contribute money for the war veterans but the states refused to pay saying things like “if New Jersey hasn’t paid yet then why should we?”, and Delaware wasn’t asked to pay as much as us so we’re going to dispute this by withholding our payment

4. 14 leaders of the rebellion were sentenced to death but all were either pardoned or let off with short prison terms

5. Shay’s Rebellion was cited six times in the Federalist Papers because it was an obvious example of the need for a central government with the authority to raise tax revenues

b. The main reason for the Federalist Papers was to persuade the citizens to support the ratification of the recently written constitution, they needed to get at least 9 of the 13 states to ratify it so that an improved national government could be established

i. The ratification was not easily accomplished, it was a very close decision

ii. There were powerful opponents that wanted the status quo because they already had significant power and they saw that the new constitution would reduce their power

iii. George Clinton, governor of New York at the time was a fierce anti-federalist that wrote objections to the new constitution that he contributed to the same newspapers under the byline “Cato.” He argued that the recently written Constitution was inadequate and that a new attempt should be made to write a new and better constitution

iv. #85 (Hamilton) I dread more the consequences of new attempts (to write new and better constitutions) because I know that powerful individuals in this (NY) and other states are enemies to a general national government in every possible shape

c. They wanted to establish the first federal government based on choice and reflection as opposed to force and accident

i. #1 (Hamilton) it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force

ii. #36 (Hamilton) The government provides a convenient mode of rectifying their own errors, as future experience may unfold them

iii. #68 (Hamilton) Our country was argued into existence—and that is the first thing that binds us—but also has some of the tension that divides us

iv. #75 (Hamilton) The essence of the legislative authority is to enact laws, or, in other words, to prescribe rules for the regulation of the society, while the execution of the laws and the employment of the common strength either for this purpose or for the common defense, seem to comprise all the functions of the executive magistrate

d. The government’s job is to be an impartial umpire in disputes between the various factions

i. #45 (Madison) The public good, the real welfare of the great body of the people, is the supreme object to be pursued and that no form of government whatever has any other value than as it may be fitted for the attainment of this object

ii. #52 (Madison) Justice is the end (goal) of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained or until liberty be lost in the pursuit

iii. #57 (Madison) The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society, and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust

iv. #36 (Hamilton) The Constitution strives for a proper distribution of the public burdens and tends to guard the least wealthy part of the community from oppression

v. #10 (Madison) The most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society…creditors…debtors….A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest…The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation

vi. #42 (Madison) But the mild voice of reason, pleading the cause of an enlarged and permanent interest, is but too often drowned, before public bodies as well as individuals, by the clamors of an impatient avidity for immediate and immoderate gain

vii. #10 (Madison) No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause because his interest would certainly bias his judgment and not improbably corrupt his integrity

viii. #80 (Hamilton) No man ought certainly to be a judge in his own cause, or in any cause in respect to which he has the least interest or bias

ix. #15 (Hamilton) Government implies the power of making laws. It is essential to the idea of a law that it be attended with a sanction: or, in other words, a penalty or punishment for disobedience. If there be no penalty annexed to disobedience, the resolutions or commands which pretend to be laws will, in fact, amount to nothing more than advice or recommendation.

x. #79 (Hamilton) an attempt to fix the boundary between the regions of ability and inability would much oftener give scope to personal and party attachments and enmities than advance the interest of justice or the public good

e. Commerce has a central place in the Federalist Papers

i. The Constitution tries to ensure the framework for orderly economic life

ii. #12 (Hamilton) The prosperity of commerce is now perceived and acknowledged by all enlightened statesmen to be the most useful as well as the most productive source of national wealth, and has accordingly become a primary object of their political cares

f. The new Constitution provided Checks and Balances

i. What is being balanced?
1. They saw how power has a very strong tendency to corrupt those who have it and when they get it they just want more of it even though they already have a lot of it. It’s never enough. But they realized that power was necessary and could be harnessed for good by restraining power and stabilizing it (with checks), and by letting the power have energy to get things done.

2. The powers of the federal government are separated into three branches of government: Executive, Legislative and Judicial

3. The power of one branch always wants to encroach on the other branches, Each branch needed special powers to stop the encroachment of power from the other two branches

4. The power of the three branches are balanced in the following way:

a. Each branch is granted the power to have its own will, but also the power to check the other branches’ power so that it can successfully maintain itself against their power

5. When power falls out of balance and gets out of control it tends to get concentrated in one faction or one tyrant

a. The Roman republic decayed and turned into a monarchy under Caesar

b. Caesar declared himself “Dictator for Life” and it was the beginning of the end of the Roman empire

c. Tyrant – a ruler who governs oppressively or brutally using their power harshly

d. Name examples of a famous tyrant who did lousy things

ii. Examples of checks

1. The House of Representatives can impeach the President or a judge on the Supreme Court and the impeachment trial is held in the senate

2. The President has the power to veto congress’ laws

3. The President nominates judges to the Supreme Court

4. The Judicial branch can annul new laws that the legislature passes that contradict the constitution

g. The victory of the center over the periphery and the victory of checks and balances over legislative supremacy

h. The 3 powers cooperate to produce some grander result, some great policy

i. The executive deals with short term emergencies and long term strategies

ii. Congress deals with the middle term

iii. The executive adds something to legislative power, it isn’t just a way of checking

i. The country was full of ambitious men, In order to gratify his own sense of excellence

i. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition

ii. When your ambition opposes other ambitious people

iii. Can you persuade a constitutional majority to do something great that you had in mind?

1. It’s easy if you can fool them or awe them through fear of you

7. Post Constitution miscarriages of justice

a. Castlerock Police Department versus Gonzalez
i. Antonin Scalia was an originalist chief justice of the supreme court, he found the police innocent and wrote the majority opinion

b. Connecticut versus Griswold

i. 4 of the 9 supreme court justices were having affairs, they wanted birth control for their mistresses

c. Women, minorities, and Native Americans were marginalized by the Constitution

i. The Constitution was written by white, property-owning men and it protects their rights

d. The dynamics of parties is left out of the Federalist papers

i. It has some things for both liberals and conservatives, both things that they would like and also reproaches to them – you should see better than you do the points that the other party makes

ii. The Federalist has a spirit of innovation and love of novelty and we should venerate it

iii. The country was divided into two political parties, the federalists (energy) and the anti-federalists (liberty)

8. What can we do now?

a. Vote in every election
i. Get educated on the candidates before voting so you can make an informed choice using these two websites
1. Votesmart.org

2. Vote411.org

b. Volunteer for causes you perceive to be injustices

c. Get involved in student government

d. Go to the state government website CT General Assembly

i. Select the "Committees" drop down arrow

ii. Select the committee you are interested in

iii. To see the committee public hearing date for specific bills select "Bill Record Book"

a. Write to all members of the committee before the public hearing date telling them why you want a certain bill to come out of committee (and be voted on by the full legislature)

b. The "Contacts" section on the main page of the committee gives you the committee's mailing address, phone, and a link for mailing them "Public hearing testimony"

c. Provide testimony in favor of or against specific bills by sending an email. The legislators read you testimony aloud when debating the bill and they count how many testimonies are for and against the bill in question. You can also appear in person in Hartford at the state capital on the appointed day and provide testimony in person. For example, to provide testimony on the bill, SB299, regarding limiting the use of plastic straws in restaurants, I sent an email to the email address for Environment committee testimonies: envtestimony@cga.ct.gov. The subject of the email was "Testimony regarding SB299." The body of the email was, "Attached is my testimony regarding SB299." The testimony has to be in an attachment to the email. I created a Microsoft Word document that I attached to the email that said,

Dear Sirs:

I support SB299. Plastic straws are unusual in that they do not really enhance the drinking experience unless you like the convenience of not having to bring the glass to your lips and not having to tip the glass. But when these very minor conveniences are weighed against the resulting huge amounts of plastic entering the waste stream, it seems obvious that people should not be given plastic straws automatically with every drink that is served at a restaurant. When I go to restaurants I ask the waiter or waitress not to give my family and me plastic straws with our water glasses. It has been disappointing the few times that I have forgotten to make this request and a plastic straw appears in everyone's water glass. Please pass SB299 into law. I am a registered voter in Connecticut residing at 204 Park St. New Canaan, CT 06840.

Sincerely,

A. Victor Alvarez

iv. To see which bills have made it out of committee (the ones that make it out of committee are the ones that will be voted on by the general assembly), select "Bills Reported Out of Committee"

v. Get on your representatives' mailing list to receive their newsletter where they tell you the bills they think are important

Ben Franklin’s speech

The constitutional convention was held in closed session at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Under George Washington as president of the convention, 55 delegates devised a permanent framework for the government of the American nation. Success though was not guaranteed. After more than three months of deliberation, a draft was finally agreed on September 15, 1787. Two days later the convention was due to meet to sign the official parchment version. If agreement could not be reached, the convention leaders were anxious that delegates might revisit the grievances that had accumulated in the course of the discussion and refuse to sign the final document. On September 17, 1787 Ben Franklin read a speech called “I agree to this constitution with all it faults” where he argued for flexibility, tolerance of dissent and a spirit of compromise. He said that a nation is a living process and all citizens will find something to quarrel with. The task is not agreement, but consensus, an acceptable deal rather than total satisfaction. Men should not allow the fictional perfect to be the enemy of the acceptable good. The constitution was signed that day by 39 of the 55 delegates and it was eventually ratified by the required 9 of the 13 states in 1788.