"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to controul the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to controul itself." — James Madison, Federalist No. 51 (1788)
Madison's argument was written principally to address which concern of skeptical state convention delegates?
- A
Quaker demands for explicit constitutional protections of conscience
- B
Western settlers' insistence on free navigation of the Mississippi
- Ccheck_circle
Anti-Federalist fears that a stronger national government would become tyrannical
- D
Loyalist objections that the new government broke continuity with the British crown
Explanation
The Federalist Papers were written to persuade ratification skeptics — chiefly Anti-Federalists worried about national tyranny — that the Constitution's internal checks would restrain power. Loyalist, Quaker, and Mississippi-navigation concerns were peripheral or addressed elsewhere.