Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Thank you Dr. Morrissey for walking us through Federalist No. 22!  Publius certainly covers a lot of ground in this Federalist Paper!  If only our current elected officials would take the time to methodically explain major proposed legislation in this manner.   Our “sound bite” culture and collective short attention span does not lend itself to deeply and thoroughly understanding the many issues facing us.

The weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were many: lack of federal regulation of commerce, including foreign commerce and interstate commerce; the weakness of the state quota system for raising armies; problems of equal suffrage among the states; the weaknesses of the 2/3 majority requirement for important resolutions ; lack of “one Supreme Tribunal,” and overall so many problems with the Articles of Confederation that they were not deemed fixable by amendment.  Publius goes on to point out the weakness of a Congress with only one legislative body, and the final and most important flaw: The people never ratified the Articles of Confederation.  It is with this final point that my favorite quote from Federalist 22 appears:

“The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.”

One of the things I have enjoyed most about reading The Federalist are the quotes like the one above, that leap off the page, and speak to us so clearly, 223 years later.  They encapsulate principles that our country has drifted from, and remind us of the intent of the founders.  When these principles are followed, our country flourishes.  When we drift from them, we stagnate.

If only our founding fathers could come back today, and write a series of Federalist Papers where they analyze our current governmental structure in the same manner they analyze the Articles of Confederation, and methodically itemize all the places our country has deviated from their original founding principles.  I have a feeling they would have a hard time confining their essays to 85!

Good night and God Bless!

Cathy Gillespie

 

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