Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 36

Hamilton concluded his meditations on taxation by introducing two ideas that gained little traction at the time but would down the road.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 35

Further exploring the issue of the federal government’s “indefinite power of taxation,” Hamilton in Federalist 35 waded into some new waters.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 34

It is not my habit to go into contemporary politics, especially in these essays, but the power of taxation being — along with death — two of the certainties of life, and the twig having long been bent, it seems worth thinking about the relationship of Federalist 34 to the perennial problem of debt, one of the main themes of the essay.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 32

I want to remind the reader that The Federalist consists of essays written for average citizens, mostly farmers, many of whom had to have the essays read to them, published in local newspapers.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 31

The French philosopher René Descartes believed that knowledge resulted from “clear and distinct ideas” that occurred in the mind.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 30

The two most consequential powers of modern governments are the power to conscript individuals into military service and to dip its hands into people’s pockets.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 28

Hamilton’s extended meditation on the importance of a federal army continued in Federalist #28, the penultimate essay on the topic.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 26

If you had asked educated Americans during the Constitutional period when America was “founded,” they likely would have answered “1688.”

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 25

Last week, in discussing Federalist #24, I rehearsed in some detail some of the antifederalist arguments concerning a standing army, the main subject of Hamilton’s essays 24-29.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 24

The next six Federalist essays (24-29), all written by Hamilton, deal with one of the most controversial powers in the Constitution: the ability to create a standing army, which, the critics claimed, posed an essential and enduring threat to liberty.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 22

In Federalist 22 Hamilton reviews and repeats some of his earlier arguments concerning commerce and the need for a central authority that regulates and sets uniform standards.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 21

After Madison’s digression into history in the previous three papers, Hamilton returns his attention in Federalist 21 to what he regards as the greatest flaws of the government under the Articles of Confederation…

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 18-20

The use and interpretation of the historical record presents one of the more interesting aspects of the American Constitutional period.

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Heritage Jeff Polet Heritage Jeff Polet

Federalist 17

At the end of Federalist 16 Hamilton wisely warned us against expecting too much from either government itself or a plan for government.

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