Federalist No. 2

Federalist No. 2 is an essay written by John Jay, the second of The Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. These essays, written by Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, were published under the pseudonym "Publius".[1] Federalist No. 2, titled "Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence" was published on October 31, 1787, as the first of five essays written by Jay where he addresses the advantages of a unified government over separate sovereignties. He discusses how an undivided country enforces laws with more efficiency, resolves conflicts, and gives better protection from foreign influences.[2]

Federalist No. 2
John Jay, author of Federalist No. 2
AuthorJohn Jay
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Federalist
PublisherThe Independent Journal
Publication date
October 31, 1787
Media typeNewspaper
Preceded byFederalist No. 1 
Followed byFederalist No. 3 

Jay's argument

Jay, writing under the pseudonym Publius, argues that a strong union of the states would provide the best opportunity to prosper for centuries to come. He argued that America consists of a single connected country and that a unified federal government, as opposed to divided confederacies, would assure security and prosperity.[2] In support of the ratification of the proposed Constitution, Jay wrote that the desirability of "one nation, under one federal government" reflected America's status as "one connected county" and "one united people."[3] This statement echoes references elsewhere in the Federalist Papers (for example, in Madison's Federalist No. 46 and Hamilton's Federalist No. 9,[3] that emphasize the fundamental unity of the states, locate the ultimate source of authority for the Constitution in the people, rather than in states,[3] and suggest a communal attachment of the people for American as a whole nation, rather than as simply an amalgamation of states.[4]

Sanford Levinson notes that Jay's Federalist No. 2 responds to the anti-Federalist claim that the states were too diverse and heterogeneous to be part of the same strong central government.[5]

References
  1. "Federalist Papers - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  2. The Federalist No. 2: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence.
  3. David L. Shapiro, Federalism: A Dialogue (Northwestern University Press, 1995), pp. 24-25.
  4. Edward Millican, One United People: The Federalist Papers and the National Idea (University Press of Kentucky: 2021).
  5. Thomas J. Main, The Rise of the Alt-Right (Brookings Institution Press, 2018), p. 151.

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