Federalist No. 39
Background and Purpose
James Madison wrote Federalist No. 39, "The Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles," under the pen name "Publius." It was first published in New York's Independent Journal on January 16, 1788. Anti-Federalists like Brutus had two big complaints that Madison answers here: that the new government wasn't truly republican, and that it would swallow up the states into one consolidated national government.
What Makes a Government Republican
Madison defines a republic as "a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or during good behavior." Power has to come from the people as a whole, not from a small favored class.
- The Constitution passes the test: the House is elected directly by the people, senators were chosen by state legislatures that the people elect, the president is chosen indirectly through electors, and judges are appointed by officials the people chose. Every office has either a limited term or "good behavior" tenure.
- More proof: the Constitution bans titles of nobility at both the national and state levels and guarantees every state a republican form of government.
Partly National, Partly Federal
Anti-Federalists said the Convention should have kept the "FEDERAL form," a confederacy of sovereign states, but instead built a "NATIONAL government" that would consolidate the states. Madison answers that the Constitution is a mix: it "is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal Constitution, but a composition of both." He tests it five ways:
- Foundation (ratification): federal. The people ratify it through each state, as members of separate states, not as one big national majority. Each state is bound only if it agrees.
- Source of power: mixed. The House gets its power from the people (national), the Senate from the states as equals (federal), and the president from a combination (the Electoral College counts states partly as equals and partly by population).
- Operation of power: national. Federal laws act directly on individual citizens, not on state governments. This is a big change from the Articles, where Congress could only make requests of the states.
- Extent of power: federal. The national government's power covers "certain enumerated objects only" and leaves the states "a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects."
- Amending it: mixed. Article V needs more than a simple majority and counts by states (federal), but it doesn't require every state to agree (national).
Watch the vocabulary: in 1788, "federal" meant a league of sovereign states (what we'd now call a confederation) and "national" meant one central government acting on individuals. Today we use federalism for the mix itself, which is exactly what Madison is describing.
Big picture
Federalist No. 39 is Madison's answer to the charge that the Constitution would erase the states. His point is that the plan is a hybrid on purpose: national where the Articles had failed (acting directly on citizens), and federal where the states needed protection (ratification, equal votes in the Senate, and limited enumerated powers). Splitting power this way keeps any one level from controlling everything, and it gives citizens more than one government they can turn to.
Uses for Argumentative Essays
- Principles: federalism, republicanism, popular sovereignty, and limited government.
- Where it shows up: Unit 1, Topic 1.7 (EK 1.7.A.1, which says Federalist No. 39 explains how combining national and state features limits the concentration of power in any one part of the government while allowing multiple access points for political participation). The CED also links it to Topics 1.1, 1.5, 1.8, and 1.9.
- In an argument essay: use it to argue that federalism protects liberty by dividing power between levels of government, or to answer Brutus: the states keep "a residuary and inviolable sovereignty," so they aren't swallowed up. It pairs well with Federalist No. 51's "double security" and with the Tenth Amendment.