The Federalist | Page 3

probable dangers, to
which every State will be exposed from its dissolution. This shall
accordingly constitute the subject of my next address. PUBLIUS. 1 The
same idea, tracing the arguments to their consequences, is held out in
several of the late publications against the new Constitution.

FEDERALIST No. 2
Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence
For the Independent Journal.
JAY
To the People of the State of New York:

WHEN the people of America reflect that they are now called upon to
decide a question, which, in its consequences, must prove one of the
most important that ever engaged their attention, the propriety of their
taking a very comprehensive, as well as a very serious, view of it, will
be evident.
Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government,
and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted,
the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it
with requisite powers. It is well worthy of consideration therefore,
whether it would conduce more to the interest of the people of America
that they should, to all general purposes, be one nation, under one
federal government, or that they should divide themselves into separate
confederacies, and give to the head of each the same kind of powers
which they are advised to place in one national government.
It has until lately been a received and uncontradicted opinion that the
prosperity of the people of America depended on their continuing
firmly united, and the wishes, prayers, and efforts of our best and
wisest citizens have been constantly directed to that object. But
politicians now appear, who insist that this opinion is erroneous, and
that instead of looking for safety and happiness in union, we ought to
seek it in a division of the States into distinct confederacies or
sovereignties. However extraordinary this new doctrine may appear, it
nevertheless has its advocates; and certain characters who were much
opposed to it formerly, are at present of the number. Whatever may be
the arguments or inducements which have wrought this change in the
sentiments and declarations of these gentlemen, it certainly would not
be wise in the people at large to adopt these new political tenets
without being fully convinced that they are founded in truth and sound
policy.
It has often given me pleasure to observe that independent America was
not composed of detached and distant territories, but that one connected,
fertile, widespreading country was the portion of our western sons of
liberty. Providence has in a particular manner blessed it with a variety
of soils and productions, and watered it with innumerable streams, for

the delight and accommodation of its inhabitants. A succession of
navigable waters forms a kind of chain round its borders, as if to bind it
together; while the most noble rivers in the world, running at
convenient distances, present them with highways for the easy
communication of friendly aids, and the mutual transportation and
exchange of their various commodities.
With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has
been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people--a
people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language,
professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of
government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by
their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout
a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and
independence.
This country and this people seem to have been made for each other,
and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance
so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by
the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial,
jealous, and alien sovereignties.
Similar sentiments have hitherto prevailed among all orders and
denominations of men among us. To all general purposes we have
uniformly been one people each individual citizen everywhere enjoying
the same national rights, privileges, and protection. As a nation we
have made peace and war; as a nation we have vanquished our common
enemies; as a nation we have formed alliances, and made treaties, and
entered into various compacts and conventions with foreign states.
A strong sense of the value and blessings of union induced the people,
at a very early period, to institute a federal government to preserve and
perpetuate it. They formed it almost as soon as they had a political
existence; nay, at a time when their habitations were in flames, when
many of their citizens were bleeding, and when the progress of hostility
and desolation left little room for those calm and mature inquiries and
reflections which must ever precede the formation of a wise and
wellbalanced government for