the founding and the constitution

Like most textbooks on American government, your text includes Federalist #10 and Federalist #51 in the appendix. Read pages A1-A39 in the appendix of your text. Write an essay that addresses each of the following:

1. What principles or arguments are in Federalist #10 and Federalist #51 that make them so important as to be included in almost every undergraduate introductory textbook?

2. What were the Anti-federalists for? Set out the differences between the Federalists and Anti-federalists. Here is a comparison that might help:

The Federalist Vision

A bustling commercial nation over a large territory with a central government that would be independent enough to fight external wars and keep peace at home, while regulating internal commerce and external trade.

5 Basic Points of Disagreement

  1. Representation (Expert/Trustee/Filter)
  2. Trust comes from (Good Administration)
  3. Source of Tyranny (From “faction”)
  4. Limits on Government (Limited but powerful)
  5. Bill of Rights (Danger of over-enumeration)

The Anti-Federalist Vision

An agrarian nation with robust and virtuous citizens combined in a loose confederation of states—one that required only a revision of the existing Articles of Confederation to remedy certain temporary inconveniences.

5 Basic Points of Disagreement

  1. Representation (Citizen/Delegate/Mirror)
  2. Trust comes from Likeness and Responsiveness)
  3. Source of Tyranny (Comes from Government)
  4. Limits on Government (State sovereignty, but intrusive)
  5. Bill of Rights* (Firebell; AF won this one.)

3. A few years ago I used a textbook that stated that “the Bill of Rights consisted of the first 8 amendments to the Constitution.” Most textbooks recognize the first 10 amendments as the Bill of Rights. If we begin with the assumption that the authors of that textbook did not merely make a mistake, why would they not include the 9th and 10th amendments? Would the 9th and 10th amendments be more likely to be supported by Federalists or Anti-federalists? Why?

4. Which of our modern parties would fit most closely with the Federalists and which with the Anti-federalists? Explain. For example, the Republicans are often seen as the party of small government, which would suggest that they believe the Tenth Amendment should be an important limit on the federal government; however, the Democrats have recently argued that states should be able to provide “sanctuary” from federal requirements they find onerous. The two parties often switch (10th Amendment) sides on issues like gun control, legalization of marijuana, healthcare, immigration, marriage, etc.

5. Is the solution the Founders came up with applicable beyond the American “experience”? That is, do the principles of the Founders apply to all people everywhere, e.g. in the Middle East or Asia, and can our Constitution, or perhaps our democracy, be exported? (You might consider the argument of Charles Beard, pages 38-9, here. Beard argues that self-interest, rather than high principle, motivated the Founding; if this is true, it is not clear that the principles would “fit” the interests of other/all cultures.) Explain.

Remember: The goal is to show you read chapter 2 and the reading in the appendix. Develop a substantive thesis around the idea that our Constitution or democratic system can/cannot be exported to other cultures. Then, treat the questions as “topics” for each paragraph.