Constitution: Creating a Republic
In early 1788, in defense of the proposed constitution, James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper 51: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." Here, Madison described the dilemma of government in a democratic republic: The role of government is to prevent the excesses of personal license and political tyranny while ensuring the broadest range of individual liberty.
Preserving the Revolution and Union
Madison's support of the Constitution sought to preserve the ideals and values of the Revolution by sustaining the unity of the new nation. In the spring of 1787 the United States had been on the verge of breaking into independent states and regional confederations. Its economy was crippled by a variety of currencies, state tariffs, threats of secession in the west, a huge national debt, and the inability to defend American merchants from pirates. Popular uprisings, the most famous being Shays' Rebellion in western Massachusetts, destabilized states.
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