The Federalist Papers, Federalist No. 15 summary

What happens

1. Hamilton identifies broad agreement that the national system has serious defects, despite resistance to granting it effective powers.
2. He lists unpaid debts, foreign encroachments, restricted navigation, weak commerce, and declining confidence as signs of national distress.
3. He identifies the central defect: the Union addresses states collectively rather than governing individual citizens directly.
4. He distinguishes government from alliance and argues that enforcing commands against states requires military force rather than ordinary courts.
5. He explains how faction, love of power, and local interests undermine expectations of voluntary state cooperation.
6. He describes unequal compliance spreading into widespread defaults, leaving Congress barely able to sustain the appearance of government.

In this paper

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