I found Federalist No. 8 to be simply prophetic about the dangers a country faces when subjected to the intersection of human nature and the constant perception of external threat. Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of…
My first reaction to Federalist No. 7 was that it was applicable to the nation at the time it was written, but had little insights to offer us at present. Later it occurred to me that the issues being addressed…
With the subject of the dangers of dissension between the states, I was very interested in Federalist No. 6. My interest stems from the fact that we have seen, and continue to see, the results of such dissensions – not…
Federalist No. 5 again argues the value of union over confederacies of fully sovereign states. I see no reason to revisit the issue, but I did notice one very accurate prediction: Whenever, and from whatever causes, it might happen, and…
Federalist No. 4 continues largely the same argument as Federalist No. 3. Number 3 was about how a unified government could best prevent other nations from justly coming to war against us. Number 4 focuses on the fact that a…
Federalist No. 3 continues the discussion as to why a unified national government would be better than thirteen sovereign states or any number of weaker confederacies of the states. Once again the logic is sound, but it exposes how we…
Federalist No. 2 has been a really interesting read, and I look forward to Nos. 3-5 which continue discussion of this issue of union vs separation. One of the things I find so fascinating is that I agree with the…
Starting on my goal to read the federalist papers and glean a greater understanding of the logic of the founders, today I tackled Federalist No. 1 – the introduction. I like the way that the topic is opened with the…
I doubt that I could add any new commentary on The Declaration of Independence but in reading it again I was reminded of why there are only three paragraphs with which most people have any familiarity (the first two and…
How many people, like me, are only familiar with little more than the final sentence of this speech by Patrick Henry? It contains very little in the way of political policy or ideas, but a very good sketch of the…