Federalist No. 25

Federalist No. 25 is an essay by Alexander Hamilton, the twenty-fifth of The Federalist Papers.[1] It was first published in The New York Packet on December 21, 1787, under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all The Federalist papers were published.[1] It continues the discussion begun in Federalist No. 24.[2] No. 25 is titled "The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered".[3]

Federalist No. 25
Alexander Hamilton, author of Federalist No. 25
AuthorAlexander Hamilton
Original titleThe Same Subject Continued: The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Federalist
PublisherNew York Packet
Publication date
December 21, 1787
Media typeNewspaper
Preceded byFederalist No. 24 
Followed byFederalist No. 26 

Summary

Still considering the criticism of maintaining the national forces from Federalist No. 24, Publius now turns to the criticism that the States should provide for the national forces, rather than the Union as has been proposed.[4] Publius states that this would undermine the purpose of creating a Union, because it would rely on the individual members to support the Union's common defense.[5] He claims that this would be "oppressive to some States, dangerous to all, and baneful to the Confederacy."[6]

In explaining the danger, Publius demonstrates that the territories of foreign nations surround the entirety of the Union, making the danger common to all the States.[6] If one state in particular (Publius uses New York as an example) was attacked, it would be forced to provide all of its defense with no guarantee of support from other States.[6] Publius explains that the States themselves are too prone to power and ambition for any of them to reasonably rely on the provision of defense in a time of crisis.[7]

Later in the essay, Publius shifts back to the general importance of a Union-created military that would remain standing even during times of peace.[8] He explains that if the national forces could only be summoned during times of war, the Union would leave itself vulnerable to an initial strike.[9] Without a standing military, the Union would have to "receive the blow before we could even prepare to return it."[10] Such a system would not be functional if the Union is unable to prepare in advance of military strikes by foreign powers.[11]

Background and publication

Federalist No. 25 was written by Alexander Hamilton. Like all of the Federalist Papers, it was published under the pseudonym Publius in New York newspapers to explain the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and persuade New York to ratify it.[12] It was first published in the Daily Advertiser, the New-York Packet and the New-York Journal on December 21, 1787. It was then published in the Independent Journal on December 22.[13]

References
  1. Hamilton, Alexander. "Federalist No. 25". The Federalist Papers. Library of Congress. Archived from the original on May 7, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  2. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. pp. 153–163. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  3. Hamilton, Alexander. "Federalist No. 25". The Avalon Project. Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale University. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
  4. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. p. 158. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  5. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. pp. 158–159. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  6. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. p. 159. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  7. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. pp. 159–160. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  8. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. p. 160. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  9. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. pp. 160–161. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  10. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. p. 161. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  11. The Federalist Papers. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Books. 1999. p. 162. ISBN 0-451-52881-6.
  12. "Federalist Papers: Primary Documents in American History". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on July 17, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  13. "Federalist Essays in Historic Newspapers". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.