A union that can govern
Can thirteen states stay free and at peace if their union can only ask them for money and men, and never compel? On the answer hangs whether America becomes one nation or a set of rival neighbours.
Publius starts from the failure in hand. Under the Articles, Congress could make requisitions that the states were free to ignore, and a law without a penalty, he argues, amounts to nothing more than advice. The cure is to extend the Union's authority to the persons of the citizens, with its own power to tax and to raise armies, because the means must be proportioned to dangers no one can foresee. Without it he predicts rival confederacies, standing armies on every border, and wars among the states themselves.
- federalism
- political union
- confederation
- state sovereignty
- taxation
- public finance
- commerce
- national defense
- military power
Enter a dialogue
- Your opponents warn that a government able to tax citizens and raise armies will swallow the states — why should they believe otherwise?
- Philip of Macedon bribed his way into the Greek cities' league, which could not enforce its decrees, and became its master. What should thirteen states learn?
- What would you say to someone sure that neighbours with common interests will never need a common power to keep the peace?
- How much of its independence does a proud state forfeit once the Union can reach its citizens without asking permission?
- A people afraid of standing armies wants none in peacetime — what do you tell them disunion would bring instead?