Monday, November 26, 2012

The Federalist Papers

(This is after reading Federalist #'s 1-10, 15, 31, 47, 51 and 68-71.)

I'd never read the Federalist Papers in any serious way before.  I'd pecked at a few and read quotes from them, but never really went after them.  And I don't know that they would have meant nearly as much to me if I hadn't read some of the pieces that went before them.  Not only, the other founding documents of the U.S., but also works from Locke and Rousseau. 
The Constitution is a very forthright attempt to build an Enlightenment era social contract.  The Federalist Papers are an extended argument for the various pieces and parts.  But they are also an argument for some specific policies that wouldn't translate well to other countries.  I'm thinking of the arguments regarding how the states would settle disputes over claimed territories. 
I had an idea some time ago that I would love to see come to fruition.  I have a book that collects the counter arguments to the Federalist Papers.  I would absolutely love to see a long concerted attempt to work through each of those speeches and papers and the Federalist papers themselves, in a chronological manner.  I told this to my wife and I could see her tense up at the thought that I would be starting another project.  No, I won't.  I don't have time to add that particular one right now. 
But I'll be done with the Great Books project in 2022.  That would give me time to set things up for something before the 250th anniversary...

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