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February 1, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Federalist

The Federalist (they did not become known as ‘The Federalist Papers’ until the 20th century) is a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay between October 1787 and May 1788.

The essays were published anonymously, under the pen name “Publius,” in various New York state newspapers of the time.

The Federalist Papers were written and published to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed United States Constitution, which was drafted in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787.

In lobbying for adoption of the Constitution over the existing Articles of Confederation, the essays explain particular provisions of the Constitution in detail.

For this reason, and because Hamilton and Madison were each members of the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers are often used today to help interpret the intentions of those drafting the Constitution.

The Federalist Papers were published primarily in two New York state newspapers: The New York Packet and The Independent Journal. They were reprinted in other newspapers in New York state and in several cities in other states.

Beginning on October 27, 1787, these papers are generally considered to be one of the most important contributions to political thought made in America.

The essays appeared in book form in 1788, with an introduction by Hamilton. Subsequently they were printed in many editions and translated to several languages.

The authors of the Federalist papers argued against the decentralization of political authority under the Articles of Confederation.

They worried, for example, that national commercial interests suffered from intransigent economic conflicts between states and that federal weakness undermined American diplomatic efforts abroad. Broadly, they argued that the government’s impotence under the Articles of Confederation obstructed America’s emergence as a powerful commercial empire.

The authors were also critical of the power assumed by state legislatures under the Articles of Confederation – and of the characters of the people serving in those assemblies. In the authors’ view, the farmers and artisans who rose to power in postrevolutionary America were too beholden to narrow economic and regional interests to serve the broader public good.

Of particular concern to the authors was the passage by state legislatures of pro-debtor legislation and paper money laws that threatened creditors’ property rights.

Unlike most Americans of the period, who typically worried about the conspiracies of the elite few against the liberties of the people, the authors were concerned about tyrannical legislative majorities threatening the rights of propertied minorities.

The Articles of Confederation, in their view, had provided no safeguards against the vices of the people themselves, and the American Revolution’s enthusiasm for liberty had diminished popular appreciation of the need for good governance. The Federalist papers presented the 1786–87 insurrection of debtor farmers in western Massachusetts – Shays’s Rebellion – as a symptom of this broader crisis.

The authors of the Federalist papers argued for an increase in the ‘energy’ of the federal government to respond to this crisis.

However, the national government’s increased power would have to be based in republican principles and retain a federal distribution of power; there would be no return to monarchical rule or consolidation of central authority.

In one of the most notable essays, “Federalist 10,” Madison rejected the then common belief that republican government was possible only for small states.

He argued that stability, liberty, and justice were more likely to be achieved in a large area with a numerous and heterogeneous population.

Although frequently interpreted as an attack on majority rule, the essay is in reality a defense of both social, economic, and cultural pluralism and of a composite majority formed by compromise and conciliation.

Decision by such a majority, rather than by a monistic one, would be more likely to accord with the proper ends of government. This distinction between a proper and an improper majority typifies the fundamental philosophy of the Federalist papers; republican institutions, including the principle of majority rule, were not considered good in themselves but were good because they constituted the best means for the pursuit of justice and the preservation of liberty.

 On September 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was accepted by the delegates.  Nine states needed to vote for the Constitution for it to be accepted.

On July 26, 1788 New York, by a vote of 30-27, became the 11th state to ratify the Constitution. The New York Ratifying Convention, having approved the Constitution, also voted unanimously to prepare a circular letter to the other states, asking them to support a second general convention to consider amendments to the Constitution.

Largely through the efforts of James Madison, the first Congress in September 1789 proposed a Bill of Rights, which was adopted with little public debate in December 1791.

Click the following link to a general summary about The Federalist:

Click to access The-Federalist.pdf

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Filed Under: American Revolution Tagged With: Federalist Papers, James Madison, John Jay, America250, Alexander Hamilton, American Revolution, The Federalist

August 9, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

1804

Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 – July 12, 1804) was a Founding Father of the United States (signer of the US Declaration of Independence,) chief of staff to General Washington, one of the most influential interpreters and promoters of the Constitution and the founder of the nation’s financial system (and first Secretary of the Treasury.)

In the election of 1796, under the Constitution as it stood then, each of the presidential electors had two votes, which they were to cast for different men. The one who received most votes would become President; the second-most would be Vice President. John Adams became President and Thomas Jefferson Vice President.

In the 1800 election, Jefferson and Aaron Burr (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) received an equal number of votes; Adams was beat. Following a constitutional procedure, the US House of Representatives held a vote to determine the winner. After 35 votes with neither receiving a majority, on the 36th vote, Hamilton put his support behind Jefferson; Jefferson finally won, Burr was VP.

When it became clear that Jefferson would drop Burr from his ticket in the 1804 election, Burr ran for governor of New York. Hamilton campaigned vigorously against him. Morgan Lewis, assisted by Hamilton, defeated Burr.

Hamilton and Burr did not like each other. Hamilton had called Burr “a dangerous man, and one who ought not to be trusted with the reins of government … (and) expressed … still more despicable opinion” of Burr.

Burr demanded a “prompt and unqualified” denial or an immediate apology. Hamilton did neither. Burr insisted that they settle the dispute according to the code of honor.

Shortly after 7 o’clock on the morning of July 11, 1804, Burr and Hamilton met on a dueling ground in New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York. It was the exact spot where Hamilton’s eldest son Philip had died in earlier duel.

After Hamilton and Burr took their positions ten paces apart, Hamilton raised his pistol on the command to “Present!” and fired; his shot struck a tree a few feet to Burr’s side. Then Burr fired. His shot struck Hamilton in the right side and passed through his liver. Hamilton died the following day. (U of Houston)

The death of Hamilton, however, ended Burr’s political career. President Jefferson dropped him from the ticket for the 1804 presidential election, and he never held office again.

OK, that was there; what was happening in the Islands?

In 1795, Kamehameha’s final battle of conquest took place on Oʻahu. Kamehameha landed his fleet and disembarked his army on Oʻahu, extending from Waiʻalae to Waikīkī. … he marched up the Nuʻuanu valley, where Kalanikūpule had posted his forces. (Fornander)

At Puiwa the hostile forces met, and for a while the victory was hotly contested; but the superiority of Kamehameha’s artillery, the number of his guns and the better practice of his soldiers, soon turned the day in his favor, and the defeat of the Oʻahu forces became an accelerated rout and a promiscuous slaughter. (Fornander) Estimates for losses in the battle of Nuʻuanu (1795) ranged up to 10,000. (Schmitt)

Then, Kamehameha looked to conquer the last kingdom, Kauaʻi, which was under the control of Kaumualiʻi. (In Europe, in 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of France.)

In 1804, Keʻeaumoku (father of Kaʻahumanu (favorite wife of Kamehameha) and a staunch supporter, one of the great chiefs and the first among the war leaders of Kamehameha (one of his “Kona Uncles) died.

That same year (also about the time of the US expansion with the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark “Corps of Discovery Expedition,”) King Kamehameha I moved his capital from Lāhainā, Maui to Waikīkī, then Honolulu on O‘ahu, and planned an attack on Kaua‘i. Kamehameha’s forces for this second invasion attempt included about 7,000-Hawaiians along with about 50-foreigners (mostly Europeans.)

The maʻi ‘ōkuʻu (believed to be cholera) struck the islands in about 1804. Some reports note about one-half the population (175,000) died, however, some feel that is quite likely that close to 5,000 Hawaiians died from it. (Schmitt) Weather and sickness thwarted Kamehameha’s invasions of Kauaʻi.

In the face of the threat of a future invasion, in 1810, Kaumuali‘i decided to peacefully unite with Kamehameha and join the rest of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi under single rule.

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Kamehameha_at_Kamakahonu-(detail)-(HerbKane)
Kamehameha_at_Kamakahonu-(detail)-(HerbKane)
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Kaahumanu,_retouched_image_by_J._J._Williams_after_Louis_Choris
Kaahumanu,_retouched_image_by_J._J._Williams_after_Louis_Choris
Kamehameha Landing-HerbKane
Kamehameha Landing-HerbKane
Pali-Battle_of_Nuuanu-(HerbKane)
Pali-Battle_of_Nuuanu-(HerbKane)
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Mahiole_of_Kaumualii,_1899
Honolulu_Map-(1810)-over_GoogleEarth
Honolulu_Map-(1810)-over_GoogleEarth
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Hamilton-Burr-duel-(WC)
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Hamilton-Burr_pistols-(WC)
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Alexander_Hamilton
Aaron Burr, 1802
Aaron Burr, 1802
Lewis_and_Clark
Lewis_and_Clark
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Carte_Lewis-Clark_Expedition
Louisiana_Purchase
Louisiana_Purchase
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LouisianaPurchase

Filed Under: General, Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance Tagged With: Hawaii, Kaumualii, 1800s, Kahekili, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Lewis & Clark

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