Federalist No. 37
Encyclopedia
Federalist No. 37 is an essay by James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...

, the thirty-seventh 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 January 11, 1788 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. This paper discusses some of the political questions raised at the constitutional convention
Philadelphia Convention
The Constitutional Convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from...

. It is titled, "Concerning the Difficulties of the Convention in Devising a Proper Form of Government."

In federalist paper no. 37, Madison pointed out the difficulties that loomed over the Convention. One such problem was the question of the authority of the state versus the liberty of the people.

He wrote, "Energy in government is essential to that security against external and internal danger and to that prompt and salutary execution of the law, which enter into the very definition of good government. Stability in government is essential to national character. . . On comparing, however, these valuable ingredients with the vital principles of liberty, we must perceive at once the difficulty of mingling them in their due proportions."

He pointed out other issues that faced the convention, such as the division of powers between the central government and the States, the large and small States, and between regions of the country.

In closing he points out that it should be pleasing that an agreement was reached. That the framers were able to put aside various differences and agree on a common form of government.

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