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James Madison's Expository Essay

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Throughout the course of the founding of America, the founding fathers had many disagreements. Luckily, with due time, many of these arguments were settled. For Americans today, it should be clear to see that Madison was wrong in his prediction of what a faction would be. However, Madison had a very good reason as to why he thought the government should prevent these from occurring. This short essay will help explain both sides of the story. First, let’s start with Madison. James Madison believed in having a very strong national government. Having a strong federal government allowed them to control almost every aspect of the nation. Any kind of threat to the national government was viewed as a very big problem. Because the government was just …show more content…

The founding fathers were still trying to figure out all the little details of setting the government up. To Madison, a faction was any group of people, united in beliefs, that would take away basic rights of others. Before starting, I’m sure Madison already had a full list of people and ideas that he thought may turn into a faction and threaten his government.
Now let’s take a look at what factions are like today. In my opinion, factions are very common. Factions, like many things, come in all different types. Some factions are super devoted to what they believe in, but others are very small, just hoping that what they have to say gets heard. Because our nation is so large, our government must also be large in order to control its citizens as much as possible. Individual states still have laws they can make on their own, but in general, a strong national government is important for the nation to survive and thrive. …show more content…

The NRA constantly fights for more gun rights. They believe strongly in their ideas because of the second amendment. Another example is the Black Lives Matter group. Many members of this group believe strongly that the black society as a whole is mistreated by police and by people in general. They believe that they do not receive equal treatment, pay, or opportunities. This is an example of a faction that has gained a lot of popularity in recent times. The Black Lives Matter movement has gained a lot of media and news attention and seems to be progressing in what they hope to

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The Federalist #10 paper was the first contribution that James Madison did to the Federalist essays. His warnings and concerns were that the when a number of people rules whether it is by majority or minority, it can become dangerous to the republic. These people will ruled by their own interest not to all the citizens of the country. He described it as "faction". A faction is an organized group within a bigger one.

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Perhaps the most famous Federalist paper, Federalist 10, starts off by saying that one of the biggest arguments that favors the Constitution is that it creates a government suited to minimize the harm caused by factions. Faction, in this case, is defined as a group of people whether a minority or majority based on class, race, and profession that all share a common interest. It was inevitable that factions would occur and perhaps the defining characteristic was the unequal distribution of property. This would ultimately lead the poor without property to become the majority in a “tyranny of the masses.” Madison believed that there were two solutions in preventing majority factions, 1) Remover the causes, and 2) Control the effects.

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A faction is best defined as group of people who are associated by a belief or idea. These people are often connected by their concern for the rights of individuals in their community, as well as the future of their society. Madison believed a constitution was necessary for a unified form of government. On the other hand, Madison looked deeper into the democratic form of government and how it would influence the community. By utilizing the principle of majority rule, he thought it would change the factions and enable the government to work together more often.

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Throughout Federalist 10 Madison addresses the issue of political factions, or parties, and how they are a problem, and how to deal with them. Madison describes factions as like minded people who come together to impose their views on others. The first method Madison proposes is to remove the causes that make the faction, and the second being by controlling its effects. In order to do those things Madison says that we must destroy liberty, and give everyone the same opinions, passions and the interests respectfully. Neither of these ideas would work however because if you destroy liberty just because it gives rise to factions, you would be destroying something that is good just because it has a small side effect that can be seen as

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Madison suggests removing the problem of faction “by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence (book).” He then goes on to say right after that in the fifth paragraph that destroying liberty would not work because it defeats the purpose of creating a free society and in the sixth paragraph he calls it impractical (need to cite?). Calling it impractical is a good point because if someone were to try and take liberty from everyone people would revolt and fight for their rights and possibly become more set in their faction which is the opposite of what they want. “Liberty is to faction what air is to fire” what Madison means is that wanting to get rid of liberty because of factions is like trying to get rid of air because it fuels fire, and without air we would die(book). The other thing Madison states in his first argument is the idea of “giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests (book).

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Madison’s essay reflects the fear many had of a tyrannical government and the desire to ensure that the country didn’t revert back to that which it had just escaped from. He notes the necessity to prevent any one faction or group from gaining too much power and oppressing those in the minority. The separation of powers was set in place to ensure that this could not happen. Even if one group decides they want something, the other two have the equal authority to prevent it should it not represent the country as a whole.

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In the late 18th century, America’s founding fathers would have never dreamed of being organized into different political factions: for they were not fans of them. In Federalist 10, James Madison, leading Democratic-Republican thinker, stated that he was skeptical of factions. In his Farewell Address, George Washington, the first President of the United States, warned the American public against the egotistic political factions. Both Madison and Washington believed that factions were signs of corruption. Despite the public warnings against factions, two political parties emerged from our founding fathers: the Federalists, and the Democratic-Republicans.

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But there essay were not really read then they are a widely read today. They were established to gain votes for a new constitution but it was also to inform the people of what would happen. Discuss Essay 10 In essay #10 Madison felt that there is no possible way to equally connect the states. He felt that everyone will follow their own crowd and want to do like people they feel are different.

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James Madison’s Federalist 10 was written amid criticisms that a republican form of government had never been successful on a large scale. Madison’s argument was that a well-constructed union could control factions. He argued that in order to control factions from their causes, we would need to either give up liberty or free thought. Since we cannot infringe upon these two natural rights, we must move on to controlling the effects. A republic, Madison argues, would be able to do this because the people choose the representatives, and they choose representatives who they feel best represent their opinions.

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Madison in #10 argues about factions and how not to worry about the government. The Constitution would limit possibly factions and destroy the country. On the other hand, Jefferson believed in a weak government and a strong federal state. Anti-Federalists

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James Madison states that there are two methods of removing the causes of factions that exist. The first method is by “destroying the liberty” of individuals (Federalist #10). The second method to removing the causes of factions that Madison describes is by bestowing in every citizen identical “opinions, passions and interests” (Federalist #10), or essentially making every individual equal. James Madison explains that if these two methods of removing factions are used, then the basis of the American system, which emphasizes freedom and liberty, is breached.

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After reading The Federalist Papers #10, 48, and 51 I believe that James Madison saw human nature as being selfish and self-centered, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition" (319). Madison continues on to explicate on his previous thought, "It may be a reflection of human nature that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government" (319). The devices that he talks about are the checks and balances that Madison declares that the government needs. The government needs the checks and balances because Madison believes that trusting one man to govern everything just feeds the selfishness inside the chosen man, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary" (319).

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10 in an attempt to ratify the Constitution, the new form of government for the United States. In the Federalist Paper No. 10, Madison analyzed the way to deal with facts, made a comparison between a pure democracy and a republic, and made another comparison on whether a small government or a large government would be the best for America. He informed the people that there is not a way to completely get rid of factions, but there are ways to deal with them. One great way to deal with factions is by having a government that knows how to control and deal with their effects. Madison believes that a republic can do that job better than a democracy, because a democracy is a small society of people who can not admit there is a cure to factions.

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The federalist papers was a series of newspaper essays that have become a classic of American political. James wants to redefine the term “Republic”. Power to govern must come from the govern’s citizens. James Madison starts the most popular federalist papers by saying that one of the strongest arguments is the fact that it establishes a government to be able to control the violence and damage caused by fractions which is a group of people who gather together to protect their political opinions and views. Factions will always be a issue to deal with because the citizens will always have different opinions, some own more land than others, and some are more wealthy than others.

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The only way one can control factions is to interfere with the causes of factions, and by doing that it controls the effects. When the ambitions and desires of one party are overwhelming, they try to get as much as they can; they won’t stop unless it is equally distributed amongst the parties. An example would be the separation of powers, (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial) the three different branches are given specific jobs and powers so that one branch cannot over power another. Madison concludes that, “you can’t extinguish the factions.” In the Federalists Papers Madison, describes liberty and factions like air and fire; fire cannot survive without air.

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