Sunday, September 11, 2011

Federalist No.51 and Antifederalist No. 1

These writings express two different sides of what they think about how things should work with the government. Neither is completely wrong or right, both have valid points. These documents are an important part of our history because what they laid out, has led us to where we are now.

18 OCT 1787

State of New York

-Not just to the people then but concern for generations to come. They wanted to establish something that would be a foundation for many years after its establishers were long gone.

The senate can be seen as a good thing for the people for many reasons. Sometimes people need protection from uprising passionate people. Not to say that passionate people are bad or wrong but they can be forceful or strong willed sometimes and this could be dangerous.

These writings say a lot about who we are as Americans. What we hold to be important of valuable. These ties in with everything we have read up to this point by the state of nature. Here we see a majority and minority both speaking about the same thing but with different views. One exalted while the other is below standard. Mostly because of the "class" of who was writing what.

Something that stuck out to me was "if we were all angels we wouldn’t need government" this is very true. I think we often forget we are human and we all make mistakes. Some of us think that we do no wrong or that it’s "our way of the highway". Thinking and expressing ourselves in these manners show and support that we do need some type of government and control. Without anything where would we be? Would we be what we are today? What if these writings were never written?

I feel like the Antifederalist papers were easier to read. I feel like the writing style was different as well as the word choices and the way things were set up. I feel like this was done for a purpose. I think that this writing was done that way to appeal to its audience. Which would have been lower level people, people that didn’t have as much or non-wealthy people. The writing was easier to understand and this was important. If the audience or reader does not understand what is being said then they will not follow or want to follow.

The idea of checks and balances was brought up several times throughout the readings. This can be seen as allowing everyone to have a part or a role. In other words everyone has a job. This is done so that one person does not have to do everything and also to prevent one person from having that much control.

We can see that through all this it does lead to the civil war and the argument of states’ rights. Where are we with this today? Do the smaller people or state have a voice and if they truly have a voice is it the same as the bigger ones? Without going deep into politics, i do not think we are where we need to be. I understand we do not want a "black or white" (wrong or right) government. We do need the gray area but we have to understand that with this comes failure and wrong doing. Not always but because we are human we do make mistakes. We need to see both sides for what they are and come together to solve the same problem.

All and all, not my favorite reading but i understand the importance of reading this and how it does define us today. I also feel that everyone should have to read this. I feel as though one should not be allowed to vote or voice an opinion unless they have some knowledge of what they are talking about. This goes along with complaining about our government as well. Until one understands fully how it works, one should have no reason or right to complain. We need to be educated on these things. If we forget our past we will repeat it.


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