1787 Federalist 2 · Founding Made Plain

11787 Federalist No. 2

2Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence

3For the Independent Journal.

4JAY

5To the People of the State of New York:

6WHEN the people of America reflect

7 that they are now called upon to decide a question,

8 which, in its consequences, must prove

9 one of the most important

10 that ever engaged their attention,

11 the propriety of their taking

12 a very comprehensive,

13 as well as a very serious, view of it,

14 will be evident.

15Nothing is more certain

16 than the indispensable necessity of government,

17 and it is equally undeniable,

18 that whenever and however it is instituted,

19 the people must cede to it some of their natural rights

20 in order to vest it with requisite powers.

21It is well worthy of consideration therefore,

22 whether it would conduce more

23 to the interest of the people of America

24 that they should, to all general purposes,

25 be one nation, under one federal government,

26 or that they should divide themselves

27 into separate confederacies,

28 and give to the head of each

29 the same kind of powers

30 which they are advised to place

31 in one national government.

32It has until lately been a received

33 and uncontradicted opinion

34 that the prosperity of the people of America

35 depended on their continuing firmly united,

36 and the wishes, prayers, and efforts

37 of our best and wisest citizens

38 have been constantly directed to that object.

39But politicians now appear,

40 who insist that this opinion is erroneous,

41 and that instead of looking for safety and happiness

42 in union,

43 we ought to seek it

44 in a division of the States

45 into distinct confederacies or sovereignties.

46However extraordinary this new doctrine may appear,

47 it nevertheless has its advocates;

48 and certain characters

49 who were much opposed to it formerly,

50 are at present of the number.

51Whatever may be the arguments or inducements

52 which have wrought this change

53 in the sentiments and declarations

54 of these gentlemen,

55 it certainly would not be wise

56 in the people at large

57 to adopt these new political tenets

58 without being fully convinced

59 that they are founded

60 in truth and sound policy.

61It has often given me pleasure to observe

62 that independent America was not composed

63 of detached and distant territories,

64 but that one connected, fertile, widespreading country

65 was the portion of our western sons of liberty.

66Providence has in a particular manner blessed it

67 with a variety of soils and productions,

68 and watered it with innumerable streams,

69 for the delight and accommodation

70 of its inhabitants.

71A succession of navigable waters

72 forms a kind of chain round its borders,

73 as if to bind it together;

74 while the most noble rivers in the world,

75 running at convenient distances,

76 present them with highways

77 for the easy communication of friendly aids,

78 and the mutual transportation and exchange

79 of their various commodities.

80With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice

81 that Providence has been pleased

82 to give this one connected country

83 to one united people--

84 a people descended from the same ancestors,

85 speaking the same language,

86 professing the same religion,

87 attached to the same principles of government,

88 very similar in their manners and customs,

89 and who, by their joint counsels,

90 arms, and efforts,

91 fighting side by side

92 throughout a long and bloody war,

93 have nobly established

94 general liberty and independence.

95This country and this people

96 seem to have been made for each other,

97 and it appears as if it was the design of Providence,

98 that an inheritance so proper and convenient

99 for a band of brethren,

100 united to each other by the strongest ties,

101 should never be split

102 into a number of unsocial, jealous,

103 and alien sovereignties.

104Similar sentiments have hitherto prevailed

105 among all orders and denominations of men among us.

106To all general purposes we have uniformly been one people

107 each individual citizen everywhere enjoying

108 the same national rights,

109 privileges, and protection.

110As a nation we have made peace and war;

111 as a nation we have vanquished our common enemies;

112 as a nation we have formed alliances,

113 and made treaties,

114 and entered into various compacts and conventions

115 with foreign states.

116A strong sense of the value and blessings of union

117 induced the people, at a very early period,

118 to institute a federal government

119 to preserve and perpetuate it.

120They formed it almost as soon

121 as they had a political existence;

122 nay, at a time when their habitations were in flames,

123 when many of their citizens were bleeding,

124 and when the progress of hostility and desolation

125 left little room

126 for those calm and mature inquiries

127 and reflections

128 which must ever precede the formation

129 of a wise and wellbalanced government

130 for a free people.

131It is not to be wondered at,

132 that a government instituted

133 in times so inauspicious,

134 should on experiment be found greatly deficient

135 and inadequate to the purpose

136 it was intended to answer.

137This intelligent people perceived and regretted

138 these defects.

139Still continuing no less attached to union

140 than enamored of liberty,

141 they observed the danger

142 which immediately threatened the former

143 and more remotely the latter;

144 and being pursuaded

145 that ample security for both

146 could only be found

147 in a national government more wisely framed,

148 they as with one voice,

149 convened the late convention at Philadelphia,

150 to take that important subject under consideration.

151This convention composed of men

152 who possessed the confidence of the people,

153 and many of whom had become highly distinguished

154 by their patriotism, virtue and wisdom,

155 in times which tried the minds and hearts of men,

156 undertook the arduous task.

157In the mild season of peace,

158 with minds unoccupied by other subjects,

159 they passed many months

160 in cool, uninterrupted, and daily consultation;

161 and finally, without having been awed by power,

162 or influenced by any passions

163 except love for their country,

164 they presented and recommended to the people

165 the plan produced

166 by their joint and very unanimous councils.

167Admit, for so is the fact,

168 that this plan is only RECOMMENDED, not imposed,

169 yet let it be remembered

170 that it is neither recommended

171 to BLIND approbation,

172 nor to BLIND reprobation;

173 but to that sedate and candid consideration

174 which the magnitude and importance

175 of the subject demand,

176 and which it certainly ought to receive.

177But this

178 (as was remarked in the foregoing number of this paper)

179 is more to be wished than expected,

180 that it may be so considered and examined.

181Experience on a former occasion teaches us

182 not to be too sanguine in such hopes.

183It is not yet forgotten

184 that well-grounded apprehensions of imminent danger

185 induced the people of America

186 to form the memorable Congress of 1774.

187That body recommended certain measures

188 to their constituents,

189 and the event proved their wisdom;

190 yet it is fresh in our memories

191 how soon the press began to teem

192 with pamphlets and weekly papers

193 against those very measures.

194Not only many of the officers of government,

195 who obeyed the dictates of personal interest,

196 but others,

197 from a mistaken estimate of consequences,

198 or the undue influence of former attachments,

199 or whose ambition aimed at objects

200 which did not correspond with the public good,

201 were indefatigable in their efforts

202 to pursuade the people

203 to reject the advice of that patriotic Congress.

204Many, indeed, were deceived and deluded,

205 but the great majority of the people

206 reasoned and decided judiciously;

207 and happy they are in reflecting that they did so.

208They considered

209 that the Congress was composed

210 of many wise and experienced men.

211That, being convened from different parts

212 of the country,

213 they brought with them and communicated to each other

214 a variety of useful information.

215That, in the course of the time they passed together

216 in inquiring into and discussing

217 the true interests of their country,

218 they must have acquired very accurate knowledge

219 on that head.

220That they were individually interested

221 in the public liberty and prosperity,

222 and therefore that it was not less their inclination

223 than their duty

224 to recommend only such measures as,

225 after the most mature deliberation,

226 they really thought prudent and advisable.

227These and similar considerations then induced the people

228 to rely greatly on the judgment and integrity

229 of the Congress;

230 and they took their advice,

231 notwithstanding the various arts and endeavors

232 used to deter them from it.

233But if the people at large had reason to confide

234 in the men of that Congress,

235 few of whom had been fully tried or generally known,

236 still greater reason have they now

237 to respect the judgment and advice

238 of the convention,

239 for it is well known

240 that some of the most distinguished members

241 of that Congress,

242 who have been since tried and justly approved

243 for patriotism and abilities,

244 and who have grown old

245 in acquiring political information,

246 were also members of this convention,

247 and carried into it

248 their accumulated knowledge and experience.

249It is worthy of remark

250 that not only the first, but every succeeding Congress,

251 as well as the late convention,

252 have invariably joined with the people

253 in thinking that the prosperity of America

254 depended on its Union.

255To preserve and perpetuate it

256 was the great object of the people

257 in forming that convention,

258 and it is also the great object of the plan

259 which the convention has advised them to adopt.

260With what propriety, therefore,

261 or for what good purposes,

262 are attempts at this particular period made

263 by some men to depreciate

264 the importance of the Union?

265Or why is it suggested

266 that three or four confederacies

267 would be better than one?

268I am persuaded in my own mind

269 that the people have always thought right

270 on this subject,

271 and that their universal and uniform attachment

272 to the cause of the Union

273 rests on great and weighty reasons,

274 which I shall endeavor to develop and explain

275 in some ensuing papers.

276They who promote the idea

277 of substituting a number of distinct confederacies

278 in the room of the plan of the convention,

279 seem clearly to foresee

280 that the rejection of it

281 would put the continuance of the Union

282 in the utmost jeopardy.

283That certainly would be the case,

284 and I sincerely wish

285 that it may be as clearly foreseen

286 by every good citizen,

287 that whenever the dissolution of the Union arrives,

288 America will have reason to exclaim,

289 in the words of the poet:

290 "FAREWELL! A LONG FAREWELL TO ALL MY GREATNESS."

291PUBLIUS.