Federalist No. 2 is an essay by John Jay

John Jay

John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....

, the second of the Federalist Papers

Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788...

. It was published on October 31, 1787 under the pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Publius, the name under which all the Federalist Papers were published. No. 2 is the first of four papers by Jay discussing the protection of the United States from dangerous foreign influence, especially military force. It is titled, "Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence."

The question

The American War of Independence had been a difficult conflict for the American forces, and despite the eventual victory it was clear that the new country was not on a level, militarily, with European nations, especially Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, which were the two European powers exercising major influence along the North Atlantic coastline. There was significant concern among Americans that one of the European powers would attempt to return the United States to colonial status or otherwise limit American sovereignty. In Federalist No. 2, Jay strove to demonstrate that a strong Union of the American states would provide the best opportunity for defense.

Publius' argument

Jay begins by noting that his paper is in response to politicians who have lately rejected the previously "uncontradicted opinion that the prosperity of the people of America depended on their continuing firmly united."

He borrows ideas from the late English Enlighten thinkers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes about the need to mediate human affairs to secure peace and prosperity. Jay argues that in order to "vest it [the national government] with requisite powers," the "people must cede to its some of their natural rights." Throughout this paper, the central idea is Union and it is justified as being evident given all the similarities in religion, background and language of the American people.

Jay argues that the benefits of Union against foreign wars are immense.

To address the prevailing concern about the nature of the newly proposed Constitution, Publius begins by noting that the Articles of Confederation, though established with the public good in mind, lacks the proper deliberation that was present at the convention in Philadelphia. Furthermore he relates the current situation of the convention to that of the 1774 congress that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and how it too was attacked wrongfully by opponents who seek to aggrandize themselves at the expense of the public good. He concludes with a warning, saying that if the Constitution fails to be ratified, the nation's union would be jeopardized, and so too it's greatness.

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