Certain Primary Truths Are Indisputable IN DISQUISITIONS OF EVERY KIND, certain primary truths contain internal evidence commanding the assent of the mind antecedent to all reflection. Upon these all subsequent reasonings must depend. Of this nature are the maxims in geometry, such as the whole is greater than a part, things equal to the same…
Federalist 30: The Federal Government Must Be Well-Funded THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL POSSESS THE POWER of providing for the support of the national forces, and with it the obligation to make expenditures for raising troops, building and equipping fleets, and any other expense in any way connected with military arrangements and operations. The Federal…
The Federal Government Should Regulate State Militias IF WELL-REGULATED MILITIAS are the most natural defenders of a free country, they certainly ought to be regulated by and be at the disposal of the Federal government, which the Constitution establishes as the guardian of the national security. The power of regulating State militias – and of…
The Use of Force May Be Required to Quell Civil Disturbances SEDITIONS AND INSURRECTIONS are maladies that are as inseparable from the body politic as tumors and eruptions are from the natural body. Thus, the idea of governing at all times with the simple force of law exists only in the reveries of those political…
SOME HAVE ARGUED THE CONSTITUTION CANNOT OPERATE without the aid of a military force to execute its laws. The argument most likely originates in the assumption the People will be disinclined to the exercise of Federal authority on any internal State matter. Why should we presuppose the People will be disinclined to the exercise of…
The Balance of Power and Privilege IT WAS HARDLY TO BE EXPECTED that the minds of individuals inspired by our popular revolution would stop at that happy median that combines the energy of government with the security of private rights. There is a salutary yet delicate boundary between power and privilege that can give rise…
A Federal Standing Army Must Be Controlled by the Federal Government, not State Governments THE ARGUMENT THAT STANDING ARMIES ought to be provided for by State governments under Federal direction is an inversion of the primary principle of our political association. The project would be oppressive to some States, dangerous to all, and baneful to…
Federalist 24: The Objections to a Standing Army Are Illusory THE ONLY SPECIFIC OBJECTION raised with respect to the powers to be conferred upon the Federal government concerning the creation and direction of the national forces is that proper provision has not been made against the existence of standing armies in time of peace. The…
WE ARE NOW ARRIVED at the point of examining the necessity of a Constitution energetic enough to preserve the United States. This inquiry will naturally divide itself into three branches: (1) the principal objects of the Federal government, (2) the quantity of power necessary to accomplish those objects, and (3) the persons upon whom that…
IN ADDITION TO THE DEFECTS already enumerated concerning the Federal system under the Articles of Confederation, others of equal importance concur in rendering it altogether unfit for the administration of the affairs of the United States. The Power to Regulate Commerce Is Indispensable All agreed that a principal defect of the Articles of Confederation…