January 4

"In framing a government...the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself."

James Madison, 4th President, 1809-1817, from The Federalist Papers, #51, New York Independent Journal, Wednesday, February 6, 1788.-The United States Constitution was adopted September 17, 1787 by a constitutional convention and ratified by the eleventh state on June 21, 1788. George Washington did not take his oath of office as the first President until April 30, 1789. Madison favored a stronger more centralized Federal government and needed to persuade the country that such a government would not become too powerful and oppress the people since the colonies had just fought the War of Independence to escape the oppressive British government. The U.S. Constitution, of course, provides for checks and balance between the three departments of government. Madison also states that in a republic, the rights of minority factions must also be protected from injustice from a more powerful majority: First. In a single republic, all the power surrendered by the people is submitted to the administration of a single government; and the usurpations are guarded against by a division of the government into distinct and separate departments...Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself. Second. It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure...Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit. In a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reign as in a state of nature, where the weaker individual is not secured against the violence of the stronger; and as, in the latter state, even the stronger individuals are prompted, by the uncertainty of their condition, to submit to a government which may protect the weak as well as themselves. In our ever evolving country and our ever evolving world, I repeat Madison's words reqarding justice: "It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit."