Federalist No. 5

John Jay

Federalist No. 5 is an essay by John Jay, the fifth of The Federalist Papers. It was published on November 10, 1787 under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all The Federalist Papers were published. It is the last of four essays by Jay discussing the protection of the United States from dangerous foreign influence, especially military force. It is titled, "The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence."

Summary of the argument

In this paper, Jay argues that the American people can learn a lot from the troubles Great Britain had when it was divided up into individual states. When divided, envy and jealousy ran rampant. Try as you might to make each nation-state equal, eventually one will begin to grow more powerful than the others (assumed by Jay to be the north), they in turn will grow jealous and distrustful of each other. Alliances with different nations may be forged by different states, tearing America apart at the seams. A single nation would be 'joined in affection and free from all apprehension of different interests' and as such a much more formidable nation.

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