Category — James Madison

Each of the Federalist Papers was an argument for ratification of the Constitution. Frequently the topic addressed was in rebuttal to something that those in opposition to ratification had already written about or in anticipation of an opposing argument yet to be heard. Federalist No. 10 addresses the issue of factions and whether a large republic is the best means of combating them.   Read the rest of this entry »

The Motor City Times blog has a piece that we wish we'd posted here! In it he has Madison ask the question: "What part of few and defined don't you get?"   Read the rest of this entry »

The world-shattering concept of the unalienable rights of the individual put forth in the Declaration of Independence turned the world upside down. In one fell swoop the Divine Right of Kings became the consent of the governed.   Read the rest of this entry »

The First Principles form the bedrock of the American experiment. The Founders disagreed on a lot of things, but it was their shared belief in these core values that enabled them to compromise on things that might have been insurmountable otherwise.   Read the rest of this entry »

Herein we'll answer an NPV troll and address: - Arguments against the National Popular Vote - Why the electoral college was designed. - Why it should remain unchanged. - The efforts to subvert the constitution by forming an unconstitutional "compact" between states to force change without going through the amendment process   Read the rest of this entry »

In spite of the Founders' best efforts to create a republic where the evils of faction could not prevail, today the powers of faction hold sway. Congress is growing progressively more and more factious as is evidenced by "deeming" to spend as much as they like without being accountable to actual budget.   Read the rest of this entry »

Progressive efforts to consolidate power have picked up speed recently. Massachusetts is one of several states that has approved a new law intended to bypass the Electoral College system and ensure that the winner of the presidential election is determined by the national popular vote.   Read the rest of this entry »

Looking back through the lens of history we tend to accept the sequence of events that gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as somehow inevitable.  Most Americans make little or no distinction between ratification of the Constitution …

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