Isaac Kramnick's Discourse Of Politics In 1787

Isaac Kramnick’s “Discourse of Politics in 1787” deals with the paradigm of homo civicus (civic humanism) and liberalism in the Constitution, the Federalist and Antifederalist papers along with political positions used to address the concepts of virtue and power.
The historical background of 1787 establishes the United States as a country incapable of defending its sovereignty as an independent nation and, in the same time, a confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government. This is why, on February 21, 1787, a convention of state delegates was called at Philadelphia in order to propose a plan of government. Finally, the Constitutional Convention began deliberations on May 25, 1787 and in September 17, 1787 the first Constitution of the United States was adopted.
James Madison is recognized as being the “Father of the Constitution”. After the drafting of the Constitution, Madison became one
of the leaders in the process of ratifying it. He collaborated with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in what will became known as the “Federalist Papers”. The papers were political polemics, a series of 85 articles written in order to support the ratification and to explain how the proposed Constitution would work. They did this mainly by responding to criticism from Antifederalists (the opponents of the Constitution) who argued that America should be transformed into what Samuel Adams called a “Christian Sparta” and insisted that a virtuous republican government will require a reduced area and a unitary population.
On the other hand, the Federalists who had a more liberal, modern view claimed that America should be an individualistic and competitive country, preoccupied with private rights and personal autonomy. At the time the papers were published, their authorship was anonymous, though people of the time thought Hamilton, Madison and Jay as the most likely authors.
James Madison became a leading member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia (1789–1797), Secretary of State (1801–1809), and finally he became the fourth President of the United States. On the other hand, Hamilton himself embraced a glorious political career. Despite being an ardent political philosopher like Madison, he is considered to be one of the “Founding Fathers of the United States” and the first United States Secretary of Treasury, until his resignation in 1795.
In his essay, Isaac Kramnick speaks about the vision Alexander Hamilton and James Madison had of a national state and government. After the Revolution, the Congress had no power to tax and, as a result, it was not able to pay the debts left over from the war. Madison and other nationalists, such as Alexander Hamilton or George Washington were more than concerned about this issue and their strongest fear was the break-up of the union and national bankruptcy. The only solution to the problem, as Madison thought, was to deprive the states from sovereignty completely. In his turn, Hamilton declared that for him, a national state without a government is “a sad spectacle.”
Madison thought that democracy in the state legislatures was excessive and insufficiently "disinterested" and so he wanted sovereignty transferred to the national government. Kramnick mentions Madison’s letter to George Washington where he describes government’s role in Lockean terms, as a “disinterested and dispassionate umpire in disputes”, its only purpose being to “protect the fruits of honest industry”. In his view, the government should be formed of virtuous men, worthy of being chosen representatives in a large republic. These men, according to Madison, had to have neutral interests, enlightened views and respectable sentiments that “render them superior to local prejudices and to schemes of injustice”.
By wanting a country preoccupied with private rights and personal autonomy, Madison was sure that the only way to protect the rights of the minorities was to enlarge the political sphere, favoring in this way the division of the community so that the majority will be able to have a common interest separated from that of the minority. In the federalist No. 10, Madison described this division as the guarantor of American freedom and injustice. He believed that a Republican government over an enlarged country would be worthy of taking into consideration the public views by passing them through the hands of those “virtuous chosen people”, who will put the interests of the United States above their own and will make the public voice heard. Hamilton was concerned also about the personal property rights and about the how a central government will succeed in protecting them.
Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were on agreement on many things, but in the same time, they had different opinions also.
For example, they both agreed that a unified, national government must be implemented, that personal property rights had to be protected, that the central government must be run by virtuous, patriotic people and that the Constitution had to open the way for commercial development through the creation of a national market, public credit and a standardized currency. However, they particularly disagreed in giving to the state a presidential office who had to have ”strength, vigor and energy”. But that was only a matter of perspective. For Hamilton, the presidency had to be the heart of the newly formed American state just as the monarch was in ancient European states. He saw a powerful, energetic state as a state based on commerce. For him, the prosperity of the commerce was the most useful and the most productive of a national wealth. Hence, he was preoccupied with the links between international politics, commerce and state
power.
Isaac Kramnick writes that Madison’s vision was leaned towards agrarian capitalism while Hamilton’s vision had to do with manufactures and commerce. However, they are both recognized as great contributors to the effort of defending the Constitution, thus helping to the foundation of what is today the United States of America.