Alexander Hamilton begins this brilliant discourse on the Constitution of the United States of America by asking his readers to consider a new Constitution because they have experienced the inefficiencies of the present form of government. He pronounces that the people are in a unique position to answer the most important political question of all: "whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice." If the people are up to the challenge, their actions will have great worldwide significance.
He proceeds to show that many people will oppose the Constitution for a variety of reasons, especially if they benefit from the current form of government. Hamilton, however, is not going to address the motives of those who oppose the Constitution; rather, his intent is to make arguments that favor the Constitution. He addresses imagined critics who would question his willingness to listen to other arguments because he has already made up his mind to support the Constitution. He insists that, while his motives for urging ratification of the Constitution are personal, he remains receptive to the best arguments.
Finally, he outlines the specific issues that he will address in the Federalist Papers: political prosperity and the Constitution; the inadequacy of the present government to preserve the union; the necessity of a strong and energetic government; the Constitution and its relationship to republican principles of government; the similarity of the proposed Constitution to the New York state constitution; and the protection of liberty and property under the proposed government. In addition, he is attempting to effectively answer serious arguments brought against ratification.
Hamilton concludes the first section of The Federalist Papers by telling the people that it might seem unnecessary to plead for a strong union—indeed, it may even seem as though the country were too large to establish a national system of government. However, he says, in the end, the choice the people must face is whether to adopt the Constitution or else see the end of a united government.
Analysis
Before beginning a more general analysis of Alexander Hamilton's remarks, it is necessary to provide the background of the political theory of educated men in the United States in this time period. First, most educated men, especially those who were at the heart of governing the new country, were extremely familiar with the republics of Ancient Greece and Rome (for example, see John Adam's book Defense of the Constitution, published at the same time as The Federalist Papers). From this background, the primary fear was that while a republican government was desirable in order to defend liberty, it could be impossible to enact such a government over a large geographic area, such as the United States, because it had never been accomplished before. The conventional wisdom was that this problem had always been the downfall of republics (for instance, the fall of the Roman Empire). The other major pitfall of republics had been class warfare, something that the Founding Fathers had seen in the recent Shay's Rebellion.
More specifically regarding the text, the introduction to The Federalist Papers contains the outline of Hamilton's "argument," the basic points that he wishes to discuss for ratifying the new Constitution. He also explains his motives and those of his cohorts, clarifying that this will not be a debate between two sides of the argument, but rather a coherent examination of the strengths of and necessity of the new Constitution. In this first article, therefore, the most important part is the outline Hamilton provides, enabling the reader to classify the remaining 84 papers with ease.
It is also interesting to note that the "world-wide" fame that Hamilton anticipated the Constitution would have really came to pass: the United States Constitution that Hamilton defended has become one of the most copied and admired documents in the history of civilization. Indeed, The Federalist Papers itself was published in Spanish in 1811 by the Venezualan Manuel Garcia de Sana, along with copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In addition, The Federalist Papers influenced movements in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, and Europe. Not only did Hamilton's predictions come true, but his very words were also influential far beyond the original thirteen colonies.
Hamilton, perhaps more than any of the founders, believed in the future greatness of America; he believed that this nation could be one of power and strength, and he believed that such power and strength, far from corrupting the nation's purpose or the rights of individuals, was necessary to realize the former and protect the latter. The very use of the word "empire" in this paper is very telling. Characteristically, he looks ahead: he "dips into the future and sees the United States as a world power." While this might not seem odd to the modern reader, in 1788, America was extremely vulnerable to European conquest and domination. His vision for America is even more remarkable under these circumstances.
