17th Amendment: How it Broke the Safeguard Against Consolidation
When the framers designed the Senate, they envisioned it as a safeguard for the states, with a key component being state legislatures choosing senators instead of the people at large. Federalists repeatedly assured the Anti-Federalists that because of this structure,...
Tench Coxe’s Federalist Defense: Economic and Political Consequences of Disunion
In a number of his lesser-known federalist essays, Tench Coxe pivoted from his usual focus on the division of powers between state and federal governments to tackle various Anti-Federalist arguments. He highlighted the futility of satisfying disparate objections and...
Tench Coxe: States and People as Checks on Federal Power
In his fourth essay of “An American Citizen,” Tench Coxe countered Anti-Federalist fears of federal tyranny by arguing that the Constitution’s structure kept the people and the states as the ultimate checks on federal power. Anti-Federalists repeatedly argued...