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In the late 1780s, when a new Constitution, intended to replace the Articles of Confederation, had been completed at the Philadelphia Convention, a nation-wide debate was sparked. Some argued that the Constitution was the best way to maintain unity amongst the states. Others argued that it would lead to a tyrannical government which would encroach on individual liberties. Among those who weighed...

The inference to which we are brought is, that the causes of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects. If a faction consists of less than a majority, relief is supplied by the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat its sinister views by regular vote. It may clog the administration, it may convulse the society; but it will be unable to execute and mask its violence under the forms of the Constitution. When a majority