The Federalist Papers

i've been reading the Federalist Papers lately- a collection of letters to the people of New York before in support of the US Constitution as drafted at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. They were penned under the name Publius, but actually written by later presidents Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, with a few undertaken by John Jay, who was to become our first Supreme Court Justice.

My original goal (of typical fashion for myself) was to read through all 85 letters, but i've since reconsidered. This particular edition is nearly 500 pages long, including editor's notes, a copy of the Constitution, and a glossary to help translate the obtuse, late-18th Century jargon (i'll be honest, it's tough to follow at times). Since my real motive for reading was to catch a glimpse of what the Constitution mean to it's drafters, after reading the first several letters about limitations of the Articles of Confederation, i skipped to where the exposition on the Constitution begins in 37, and am currently only on 47.

So far, it's been both inspiring, and discouraging. Inspiring, because these of our nation's forefathers were brilliant, skilled in careful reason and debate, versed in the history of various forms of government, and grounded in principle and a love of liberty. Discouraging, because the great form of national government they were selling to their fellow citizens bears little resemblance to the government we have, in practice, today (although the legal document remains much the same). This is where i'm tempted to spend the most time writing, but for brevity's sake i'll just list a few i've noticed so far:

• The Federal government is meant to have very limited powers (in scope), such as national defense, regulation of international relations, keeping harmony among the states, taxation, and a few specific miscellaneous powers like maintaining a postal service. (41, 44, 45)
  
• While the Federal government is meant to have jurisdiction over foreign affairs, domestic affairs are the domain of the states. (45)
  
• Protection against abuses by the Federal government is guaranteed by the fact that the free people of the United States are well-armed, and able to conduct future revolutions as necessary. (46)
  

One thing i'm learning to get over is the holding of "democracy" as the finest form of government. It was, in fact, scorned by our nation's early statesmen as a classic "tyranny of the majority." While many of our elected officials are elected democratically, our government is actually a Constitutional Republic, the goal of which is to protect the life and liberty of its citizens (video explaining various forms of government). This means regardless of the wishes of the majority, the rights of the minority are preserved because of the contract. That is, perhaps, in theory only, since later generations have increasingly shown utter contempt for the Rule of Law.

Exiting Independence Hall on the final day of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked by a women outside, “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” His reply should haunt us all—“A Republic, if you can keep it.”