Federalist No. 51

The Constitution of the United States was written as a system of mapping out and outlining the structure of the United States’ new government. Having gained independence from Britain, the U.S. was searching for and debating about different forms of rule and the distribution of power in the government; many new Americans feared that the tyranny imposed by Britain on the colonies could be reinstated by a new overly powerful executive due to a lack of restrictions and an overabundance of authority. The Federalist Papers were a series of essays and pamphlets written by the Founding Fathers with the intention of convincing the public to support the ratification of the Constitution. Federalist Papers No. 51 and No. 10, both written by James Madison, were used to advocate for supporting a democratic republic structure of government. Federalist No. 51 discussed the protections sanctioned …show more content…
This was imperative for Madison to explain and reiterate because one of the biggest concerns of the Antifederalists was that they feared that a strong national government could too quickly become tyrannical and oppressive, since it is seen as one singular centralized source of power. Having an entirety of a Federalist Paper dedicated to explaining the layout of the national checks and balances system was essential for Madison to garner enough support for having a dominant federal government as opposed to giving the majority of the power to individual states. By acknowledging the obstacles and challenges in trying to give each branch a similar amount of power, Madison is also able to deliver counterarguments to Antifederalists in a manner that can be perceived by the public as being authentic and