Federalist No. 9 is an essay by Alexander Hamilton, the ninth of ''

The Federalist Papers ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The c ...

''. It was published on November 21, 1787 under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Publius, the name under which all ''The Federalist'' papers were published. Federalist No. 9 is titled "The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection".

Connection to other Federalist papers

The same subject is continued in the subsequent paper by

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

Federalist No. 10 Federalist No. 10 is an essay written by James Madison as the tenth of '' The Federalist Papers'', a series of essays initiated by Alexander Hamilton arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. Published on November 22, 178 ...

. Similar to Federalist No. 51, this paper emphasizes the importance of establishing a system of checks and balances in order to ensure that the government is intact and operating smoothly.

Publius's argument

A major aspect of Federalist No. 9 is Hamilton's response to the common

Anti-Federalist Anti-Federalism was a late-18th century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles of Con ...

argument based on the theories of

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the princi ...

, who wrote famously in his ''

The Spirit of the Laws ''The Spirit of Law'' (French: ''De l'esprit des lois'', originally spelled ''De l'esprit des loix''), also known in English as ''The Spirit of the Laws'', is a treatise on political theory, as well as a pioneering work in comparative law, publis ...

'' that "It is natural for a republic to have only a small territory; otherwise it cannot long subsist." The

took his arguments to mean that the federal Union was bound to fail. Hamilton responded that if Montesquieu were taken literally, then since he was thinking of dimensions far smaller even than those of the states, the Americans would have to split themselves into "an infinity of little, jealous, clashing tumultuous commonwealths."The U.S Constitution and Other Writings, Canterbury Classics, page 98 Hamilton contends that the confederated federal system described in the proposed Constitution would not suffer as Montesquieu predicted because of its de-centralized design. He further argues that Montesquieu himself proposed a confederation of republics as the solution.

References

External links

Text of The Federalist No. 9
congress.gov {{Federalist Papers 09 Federalist No. 09 1787 essays 1787 in the United States