The Federalist Papers

It takes all types of books to make it to this list… including a read that is quite appropriate considering the Presidential election in November.  History buffs will love it, but I’d say all Americans would benefit from reading the book.  It is The Federalist Papers, by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay.  It is a series of essays that was written to help ratify the newly written constitution of the United States and focused towards the New York delegation.  The hope for the essays were to educate and convince the delegates why this document was so important for the new nation to pass.  The passages were written with a special focus in different aspects of the constitution.  The main ones included: Why the Union was necessary to the salvation of the country (using Europe as the model not to follow); why the confederation of states at the  time was not working well for the country; the need for a government that would function to keep the states united; the principles that were embedded in the constitution, and why they were right for this set of states; the difference in the governments between the states and the ‘federal’ government; the security that would be gained by the states uniting.  The last section then focused a great deal on the division of power between the judiciary, legislative, and executive levels of government being promoted.  Some of the details within the sections above included: the importance of having a military operation prepared at all times, funded for the states; the importance of unity over division; the importance of taxation to the people; the powers conferred by the constitution; a full description and support for how elections would work (terms of office, how candidates would be elected; states having equal voice, etc.); and why the three levels of government created a checks and balances for the overall running of the government.  With all of the current buzz about Alexander Hamilton, the book reminded me once again, how prolific he was as a writer, and the main man to assist in moving this nation forward.  There is a great deal of redundancy in the essays, as I’m sure that they were really trying to get the points across.  Learning reinforced for me, for others, it might be a great education about the USA and how it formed.