Federalist 47: The Power Of The Government

Federalist 47 argues that “the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands,” is a form of tyranny. The Foundering Fathers, especially the authors of the Federalist Papers were concerned with the powers of the executive, legislature and judiciary being consolidated into one area, due to the fear of totalitarianism. Thus, in Federalist 51, James Madison that “the power surrendered by the people,” to the United States of America’s government must be divided within the government to allow “ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” Each branch, the executive, legislature and judiciary were given their own respective powers, and if one branch decided to expand their power, the other branches would stop that expansion in order to prevent their own powers being endangered. Therefore, in the U.S. Constitution Article 1 Section 8, Congress is granted the power to declare war and the power to issue letters of marque and reprisal referring to hostilities short of full-scale war. The executive branch in Article 2 Clause 1, states that the president is the …show more content…
Constitution, the presidency has gained control of the country’s war powers through presidential actions and the failure of Congress to challenge the presidency’s actions. George Washington ordered militias from multiple states to attack Native American Tribes during the Indian Wars without seeking a declaration of war from Congress during the early 18th century. Abraham Lincoln after being elected to the presidency in 1860 the southern states seceded from the U.S. and formed the Confederate States of America. After the Southern states seceded, Lincoln ordered two blockades, the first being from South Carolina to Texas, the second was the ports of Virginia and North Carolina. All of which was done without a declaration of war, and Lincoln defended his actions by stating the “Constitution was nothing without the