Federalist No. 9 Explained: How Union Saves Republics from Themselves

The Federalist Papers: Explained · May 14, 2026 · 28m

Hamilton turns from the external dangers of disunion to the deepest internal threat to a republic — faction. Looking at the chronic instability of ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy, where small republics swung endlessly between tyranny and anarchy, he argues that a firm Union is the only thing that keeps the same fate from finding America. He also makes one of the boldest philosophical claims in the entire Federalist series: that the science of politics has actually advanced since the ancients, and that separation of powers, checks and balances, an independent judiciary, representative…