Federalist No. 23 (1787) is Alexander Hamilton's opening essay on how much power the national government needs to preserve the Union. He names the objects the Union must provide for, chiefly the common defense, and argues that because no one can foresee the size or variety of the dangers a nation will face, the powers to raise, govern, direct and pay for armies and fleets must have no fixed limit. Resting on the principle that the means should match the end, he points to the failure of the Confederation's system of requisitions on the States and concludes that the Union must act directly on individual citizens with full military and revenue powers. He tells opponents to judge whether the proposed government is structured well enough to be trusted, rather than to complain about the extent of its powers, and argues that the country's great size is a reason for energetic government rather than against it.
Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.
Read more: Federalist No. 23 on Wikipedia · Full text: Federalist No. 23 at Project Gutenberg
Alexander Hamilton (1755 or 1757–1804) was an American statesman, a New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. Born in the West Indies, he served as George Washington's aide during the Revolutionary War and became the most forceful advocate of a strong national government. He planned The Federalist, recruited James Madison and John Jay to write it with him, and wrote fifty-one of its eighty-five essays, including those on the executive and the judiciary. He was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804.
Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.
Read more: Alexander Hamilton on Wikipedia
Federalist No. 23 (1787) is Alexander Hamilton's opening essay on how much power the national government needs to preserve the Union. He names the objects the Union must provide for, chiefly the common defense, and argues that because no one can foresee the size or variety of the dangers a nation will face, the powers to raise, govern, direct and pay for armies and fleets must have no fixed limit. Resting on the principle that the means should match the end, he points to the failure of the Confederation's system of requisitions on the States and concludes that the Union must act directly on individual citizens with full military and revenue powers. He tells opponents to judge whether the proposed government is structured well enough to be trusted, rather than to complain about the extent of its powers, and argues that the country's great size is a reason for energetic government rather than against it.
Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.
Read more: Federalist No. 23 on Wikipedia · Full text: Federalist No. 23 at Project Gutenberg