Federalist No. 28

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Federalist No. 28
Alexander Hamilton.jpg
Alexander Hamilton, author of Federalist No. 28
AuthorAlexander Hamilton
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Federalist
PublisherThe Independent Journal
Publication date
December 26, 1787
Media typeNewspaper
Preceded byFederalist No. 27 
Followed byFederalist No. 29 

Federalist No. 28 is an essay attributed to Alexander Hamilton, the twenty-eighth of The Federalist Papers. It was published in The Independent Journal on December 26, 1787, under the pseudonym Publius,[1] the name under which all The Federalist papers were published. This is the last of the three essays discussing the threat to the common good stemming from excessive restraint on legislative authority. It is titled "The Same Subject Continued: The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered".

Hamilton began the essay with an emphasis on the necessity for a national government to use force in proportion to the extent of the mischief.[2] He argued that rebellion is always a possibility with any government. In a Union, if the rebellion is small, the state government may deal with it, but if insurrection involves an entire state then the national government must respond. The author also favored the use of military force to quell seditions and insurrections within the states.[3]

The essay supported the theory posited in Federalist Number 10, stating that "the obstacles to usurpation" increase with the increased extent of the state.[4] It held that a state government betrays the people and usurps power, the local governments will not have the power or capability to respond to it. However, the more the people understand their rights and want to defend those rights, the harder it will be for state governments to usurp power and betray the people. If state governments usurp too much power, the federal government will be more likely to step in to curb the abuse, because the federal government wants to protect its own power.

References[]

  1. ^ "The Federalist No. 28 (26 December 1787)". archives.gov. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  2. ^ Military Law Review. Headquarters, Department of the Army. 2003. p. 97.
  3. ^ Rakove, Jack N.; Sheehan, Colleen A. (2020). The Cambridge Companion to the Federalist Papers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-107-13639-7.
  4. ^ Johnson, Calvin H.; Johnson, Calvin M. (2005). Righteous Anger at the Wicked States: The Meaning of the Founders' Constitution. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-521-85232-6.

External links[]

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