Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Relevancy today. It is very clear in Federalist Paper No. 15 that cohesion between the states was necessary in order to preserve our union in a viable way.

Our guest scholar, Professor Allison Hayward, (I thank you Professor Hayward for your wonderful essay!) speculates about the future of today’s European Union, “I suspect that the EU may fail, because its constituent nations will be unwilling to yield the necessary sovereignty to create a sufficient federal government.”

The potential failure of the European countries to render themselves to a singular government speaks volumes about why the United States was able to succeed. Americans had the foresight and the fortitude to unite after the Revolution, rendering brilliant results. Thus, two miracles birthed the United States of America, one the success of the Revolutionary war, the other the success of the United States Constitution.

Homage must be paid to our Constitutional forefathers who tirelessly, tenaciously and methodically gave their time and talents to achieve the three pertinent steps: the Constitutional Convention, the rendering of the Constitution and the eventual ratification. This was no easy feat, yet it proved to be our rallying point and the launching pad for realizing the potential of our countrymen and the wealth of the land.

Yet, today, we must question if the confines of our great Constitution have been stretched beyond what our forefathers intended. A federal government to persevere and preserve is very different than a federal government to control and contrive.

Here are some of Alexander Hamilton’s words that I find relevant today and thought provoking:

“I have unfolded to you a complication of dangers to which you would be exposed, should you permit that sacred knot, which binds the people of America together, to be severed or dissolved by ambition or by avarice, by jealousy or by misrepresentation.”

“We may indeed, with propriety, be said to have reached almost the last stages of national humiliation. There is scarcely any thing that can wound the pride, or degrade the character, of an independent people, which we do not experience.”

“Do we owe debt to foreigners, and to our own citizens, contracted in a time of imminent peril, for the preservation of our political existence?”

“Is public credit an indispensable resource in a time of public danger?”

“Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.”

“The rulers of the respective members, whether they have a constitutional right to do it or not, will undertake to judge of the propriety of the measures themselves. They will consider the conformity of the thing proposed or required to their immediate interests or aims; the momentary conveniences or inconveniences that would attend its adoption.”

Are we not experiencing all of the above today?

God Bless,

Janine Turner

One Response to “May 18, 2010 – Federalist No. 15 – Janine Turner”

William Statkiewicz says:
May 19, 2010 at 3:18 pm
I am so motivated every morning when I wake up. Looking ” Forward” to when I will log onto a computer and read todays Essays on the Constitution.
I Think I will be an expert by the time this is all over.
The Checks and Balances of the Constitution ensure us that we dont have chaos
” Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.”
Therefore , this is why we are a CIVILIZED society in the United States.

0 replies

Join the discussion! Post your comments below.

Your feedback and insights are welcome.
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *