In 

Federalist Paper No. 10, James Madison wrote that: "The latent causes of faction are thus sown
in the nature of man;" and "the most common and durable sources of factions has been the various
and unequal distritution of property."  (See pages 110-114 of the course text.)

Reflecting on Madison's observations what are the causes of faction that Madison sought to
control and how did he seek to control the "mischiefs of faction" in his design of government?   

Further, what has been the role of property in the founding and development of the American
experience?

Madison, in Federalist Paper No. 10, insisted that the latent causes of faction and dissent
inherent in human nature has the ability to undermine the new republic that has just been created out
of Britain’s former colonies. Humans everywhere must balance their personal interests with the
covenants made with others around them, including with their government. However, it is these
personal interests that can create an atmosphere of instability within a democratic republic. The main
causes of “faction,” or of citizens naturally breaking into groups that may feel some way for or against
other factions, are often differing opinion about religion, tradition, politics, government, and many
more. Further, the inequality of distribution of property, in Madison’s belief, is the cause most likely to
create conflict between people, and, in turn, factions. The most powerful faction thus becomes that
with the most bodies in its midst, and this is unjust. Justice, to Madison, is an unbiased third party able
to make decisions between warring factions. Nevertheless, when everyone is focused on serving their
own personal interests, finding a fair judge may be difficult. To mitigate the effects of faction, Madison
says, what ought to be done is either eliminate the cause by not permitting the formation of majority
parties, or to control its effects by not permitting any acting faction power in politics. To the former, it
would need to be accomplished by either removing individual liberty or ensuring that a union is
formed under which everyone shares the same opinion. Since these options are unviable or less than
desirable, Madison believes it best to control the effects of faction instead by allowing citizens to vote
for a representative instead of direct democracy, and ensuring that every citizen or inhabitant of the
nation has rights that cannot be taken away by any majority ruling party.
The founding fathers took inspiration from English philosopher John Locke, who claimed that
life, liberty, and property were inherent rights that ought to be granted to every human under a
governing body. The reason that property is so important is because it is a physical manifestation of
one’s labor, which in turn is the realization of one’s will. When enacting one’s will, the labor value is
one’s own, and it can then be used to acquire one’s own property with which it would be morally
wrong to interfere. The role of property ownership was crucial in the creation and expansion of the
United States. Initially, only white men who owned land were allowed to vote and play a role in
government in politics, and it would take centuries before all US citizens were granted the right to vote
and participate politically. Additionally, the desire to obtain property is what would create the drive for
westward expansion and general territory acquisition for individuals and the federal government,
further developing the new nation.

The right of self- determination and the right to participate in government are bedrock

principals of the American governing documents.  However, the right of suffrage (the right to
vote) was originally not granted to all citizens.

Describe the growth in the right to vote through constitutional amendments and the significant
federal legislation intended to protect the right to vote.

Also, identify and comment on the barriers and obstacles in voting that exist in 2022 in some
states.

Upon the foundation of the American nation, only white men who owned property were
permitted to vote or participate in civic engagement. It was only after centuries of protest and civil
disobedience by disenfranchised citizens that change was finally enacted. The 15 th Amendment, ratified
in 1870, abolished the system of slavery within the United States, and granted the right to vote to
newly-freed Black men. However, many states would attempt to circumvent this by implementing a
poll tax or a literacy test, knowing that African-Americans would likely not be able to pay the tax or
were ever taught to read and write. These roadblocks would only be eliminated with the 24 th
amendment, ratified nearly one hundred years later in 1964. Women are another group of minority
citizens that protested and fought for the right to vote. Their efforts of suffrage ultimately paid off in
1920 with the implementation of the 19th amendment, though it was still difficult for women of color
to vote at this time. During all of this time, the voting age remained at 21. In the 1970’s, youth began
to protest the Vietnam War as young men over the age of eighteen were being drafted to fight an
imperialist war effort halfway across the world. These protests paid off, as the US pulled out of the war
and also drafted the 26th amendment to lower the national voting age to 18, finally ratifying this federal
act in 1971.
 There exist still restrictions on voting for some people in the United States. Non-citizens, for
example, may only be permitted to vote in certain local elections. Additionally, the right to vote for
felons has been a discussion in multiple states – whether or not felons ought to have their right to vote
taken away during and/or after incarceration. Currently, there are several states, such as Alabama,
Wyoming, and Mississippi, that do not permit anyone with a felony or who has spent time in prison to
be able to vote upon their release. Historically, people of a lower socio-economic class have been poorly
represented in state and federal elections, and many states are remedying this by helping people
experiencing homelessness to register and vote in our democratic elections.

The U.S. Constitution did not resolve the issue of slavery in the United States in 1789 and it
remained a controversial issue through the Civil War.

Compare the perspective on the institution of slavery of former Vice President and South
Carolina John C. Calhoun, as expressed in his "Speech on the Reception of the Abolition
Petitions delivered to the U.S. Senate" on February 6, 1837 (see pages 307-310) with the
perspective of noted abolitionist, activist and author, Frederick Douglass, as expressed in his
speech delivered on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York entitled, "What to the Slave is the
Fourth of July?" (see pages 262-271)

John C. Calhoun, in his “Speech on the Reception of the Abolition Petitions” extolled the so-
called virtue of slavery, insisting that Africans as a whole were uncivilized before being sold and
brought to the United States. He claimed slavery was a positive good for the nation, since many
civilizations have relied on the labor of lower classes in order for the elites to accumulate mass amounts
of wealth. Additionally, he upholds that the African inhabitants now enslaved in the US were actually
receiving a more enriched experience from being enslaved by white people, than they would have
otherwise. He went on to claim that if slavery was abolished, it would lead to an undesirable (for him,
and like-minded followers) outcome in which Black people in America would be elevated to an equal
social and political status as their white peers. He incurs the slippery slope fallacy as well, insisting that
“we would soon find the present condition of the two races reversed” (310), and that Black people
would enslave whites.
Frederick Douglas, on the other hand, laid claims that acknowledged the moral and intellectual
worth of Black people in the nation, especially as it concerned slaves receiving disproportionately harsh
punishments for the same crime, compared to their white counterparts. In his Fourth of July speech,
he emphasized the difference in emotion felt by Black and white people on American Independence
Day. As white people in America celebrated their freedom, it was at the cost of enslavement and
injustice served to Africans brought into a strange land. He further goes on to criticize Christians at
the time that corrupt religious practices to justify slavery. Douglas ends his speech with a message of
hope, that slavery shall inevitably meet its doom in wake of change and liberty for all.