How Did James Madison Contribute To The Tyranny Of The Constitution

One of the most influential statesmen in the early republican period was James Madison. Madison was one of the patriots who wrote the Federalist Papers, which were responsible for the acceptance and eventual ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The papers brought up some of the main reasons why the Constitution ought to have been ratified, and many solutions to the evils that would potentially be faced by the United States. In his papers Madison drew attention especially to the concern of the tyranny of the majority and the possible solutions to his concern. He first considered where the problem stems with factions, but went on to look at solutions to the effect of factions because factions themselves were not his greatest
The tyranny of the majority is a condition where the majority faction overwhelms the smaller factions and proceeds to control them. Madison made his concern of tyranny known especially in the 10th Federalist Paper, with some mention in his other papers, and writings including the Constitution in which his contributions were heavily influenced by his concerns. Factions were a legitimate threat, and the greatest of the potential evils for the United States because the good of the public would be disregarded by the majority faction, and they would make hasty decisions that would harm the country. The greatest cause for factions as described by Madison in the tenth federalist paper is different degrees of possession of
One detail that Madison considered to be beneficial for the United States was its size in that since factions could not be eliminated it was far better to have many small, weak factions rather than few large ones which dominate. In a country with many factions with all separate ideals and beliefs it would be much less likely for a majority to arise and overpower the minorities. For James Madison it was vital that all members of society had a say in choosing representatives this idea led to his disagreement surrounding the fiscal plan of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton proposed several ideas to pay off the huge national debt that had accumulated over the past years, but his plan would involve a class of people who would become extremely wealthy and would help the government to finance large undertakings. Madison expressed concern that this plan would cause a dramatic increase not only in factions, but also in the overwhelming power of the wealthy faction to control the governments decisions. Madison supported “the formation of an enlightened public voice that would control and direct the measures of government.” Madison argued that a better plan for the country would be to allow the public to have the largest role in forming the