TED2017
Noah Feldman: Hamilton vs. Madison and the birth of American partisanship
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The divisiveness plaguing American politics today is nothing new, says constitutional law scholar Noah Feldman. In fact, it dates back to the early days of the republic, when a dispute between Alexander Hamilton and James Madison led the two Founding Fathers to cut ties and form the country's first political parties. Join Feldman for some fascinating history of American factionalism -- and a hopeful reminder about how the Constitution has proven itself to be greater than partisanship.
Noah Feldman - Constitutional law scholar
Noah Feldman studies the intersection of religion, politics and law. Full bio
Noah Feldman studies the intersection of religion, politics and law. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
If you've been thinking about US politics
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and trying to make sense of it
for the last year or so,
for the last year or so,
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you might have hit on something
like the following three propositions:
like the following three propositions:
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one, US partisanship
has never been so bad before;
has never been so bad before;
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two,
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for the first time,
it's geographically spatialized --
it's geographically spatialized --
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we're divided between the coasts,
which want to look outwards,
which want to look outwards,
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and the center of the country,
which wants to look inwards;
which wants to look inwards;
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and third,
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there's nothing we can do about it.
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I'm here to today to say
that all three of these propositions,
that all three of these propositions,
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all of which sound reasonable,
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are not true.
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In fact,
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our US partisanship goes all the way back
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to the very beginning of the republic.
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It was geographically spatialized
in almost eerily the same way
in almost eerily the same way
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that it is today,
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and it often has been
throughout US history.
throughout US history.
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And last,
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and by far most importantly,
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we actually have
an extraordinary mechanism
an extraordinary mechanism
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that's designed to help us manage
factional disagreement and partisanship.
factional disagreement and partisanship.
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That technology is the Constitution.
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And this is an evolving, subtly,
supplely designed entity
supplely designed entity
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that has the specific purpose
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of teaching us how to manage
factional disagreement
factional disagreement
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where it's possible to do that,
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and giving us techniques
for overcoming that disagreement
for overcoming that disagreement
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when that's possible.
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Now, in order to tell you the story,
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I want to go back
to a pivotal moment in US history,
to a pivotal moment in US history,
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and that is the moment
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when factional disagreement
and partisanship was born.
and partisanship was born.
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There actually was a birth moment --
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a moment in US history
when partisanship snapped into place.
when partisanship snapped into place.
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The person who's at the core
of that story is James Madison.
of that story is James Madison.
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And at the moment that this began,
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James Madison was riding high.
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He himself was the Einstein
of not only the US Constitution,
of not only the US Constitution,
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but of constitutional thought
more globally,
more globally,
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and, to give him his due,
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he knew it.
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In a period of time of just three years,
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from 1785 to 1788,
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he had conceived, theorized,
designed, passed and gotten ratified
designed, passed and gotten ratified
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the US Constitution.
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And just to give you
some sense of the enormity
some sense of the enormity
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of what that accomplishment actually was,
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although Madison
couldn't have known it at the time,
couldn't have known it at the time,
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today that same constitutional technology
that he invented is still in use
that he invented is still in use
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not only in the US,
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but, 230 years later,
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in places like Canada,
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India,
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South Africa,
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Brazil.
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So in an extraordinary range
of contexts all over the world,
of contexts all over the world,
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this technology is still the dominant,
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most used, most effective technology
to manage governance.
to manage governance.
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In that moment,
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Madison believed that,
having solved this problem,
having solved this problem,
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the country would run smoothly,
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and that he had designed a technology
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that would minimize
the results of factions
the results of factions
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so there would be no political parties.
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Remarkably, he thought
he had designed a constitution
he had designed a constitution
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that was against political parties
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and would make them unnecessary.
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He had gotten an enormous degree of help
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in the final marketing phase
of his constitutional project
of his constitutional project
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from a man you may have heard of,
called Alexander Hamilton.
called Alexander Hamilton.
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Now, Hamilton was everything
Madison was not.
Madison was not.
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He was passionate,
where Madison was restrained.
where Madison was restrained.
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He was pansexual,
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where Madison didn't speak
to a woman expect for once
to a woman expect for once
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until he was 42 years old,
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and then married Dolley
and lived happily ever after for 40 years.
and lived happily ever after for 40 years.
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(Laughter)
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To put it bluntly,
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Hamilton's the kind of person
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about whom you would write
a hip-hop musical --
a hip-hop musical --
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(Laughter)
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and Madison is the kind of person
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about whom you would not write
a hip-hop musical.
a hip-hop musical.
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(Laughter)
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Or indeed, a musical of any kind at all.
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But together,
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they had become a rather unlikely pairing,
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and they had produced
the Federalist Papers,
the Federalist Papers,
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which offered a justification
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and, as I mentioned,
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a marketing plan for the Constitution,
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which had been wildly effective
and wildly successful.
and wildly successful.
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Once the new government was in place,
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Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury,
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and he had a very specific idea in mind.
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And that was
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to do for financial institutions
and infrastructure
and infrastructure
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exactly what Madison had done
for constitutions.
for constitutions.
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Again, his contemporaries all knew it.
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One of them told Madison,
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who can't have liked it very much,
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that Hamilton was the Newton
of infrastructure.
of infrastructure.
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The idea was pretty straightforward.
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Hamilton would give
the United States a national bank,
the United States a national bank,
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a permanent national debt --
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he said it would be
"immortal," his phrase --
"immortal," his phrase --
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and a manufacturing policy
that would enable trade and manufacturing
that would enable trade and manufacturing
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rather than agriculture,
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which was where the country's primary
wealth had historically been.
wealth had historically been.
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Madison went utterly ballistic.
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And in this pivotal, critical decision,
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instead of just telling the world
that his old friend Hamilton was wrong
that his old friend Hamilton was wrong
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and was adopting the wrong policies,
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he actually began to argue
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that Hamilton's ideas
were unconstitutional --
were unconstitutional --
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that they violated the very nature
of the Constitution
of the Constitution
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that the two of them had drafted together.
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Hamilton responded
the way you would expect.
the way you would expect.
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He declared Madison to be
his "personal and political enemy" --
his "personal and political enemy" --
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these are his words.
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So these two founders who had been
such close friends and such close allies
such close friends and such close allies
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and such partners,
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then began to produce enmity.
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And they did it in the good,
old-fashioned way.
old-fashioned way.
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First, they founded political parties.
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Madison created a party originally called
the Democratic Republican Party --
the Democratic Republican Party --
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"Republican" for short --
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and Hamilton created a party
called the Federalist Party.
called the Federalist Party.
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Those two parties adopted
positions on national politics
positions on national politics
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that were extreme and exaggerated.
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To give you a clear example:
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Madison, who had always believed
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that the country would have
some manufacturing and some trade
some manufacturing and some trade
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and some agriculture,
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began attacking Hamilton
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as a kind of tool of the financial markets
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whom Hamilton himself intended
to put in charge of the country.
to put in charge of the country.
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That was an overstatement,
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but it was something
Madison came to believe.
Madison came to believe.
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He also attacked city life,
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and he said that the coasts were corrupt,
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and what people needed to do
was to look inwards
was to look inwards
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to the center of the country,
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to farmers, who were the essence
of Republican virtue,
of Republican virtue,
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and they should go back to the values
that had made American great,
that had made American great,
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specifically the values of the Revolution,
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and those were the values of low taxes,
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agriculture
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and less trade.
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Hamilton responded to this
by saying that Madison was naïve,
by saying that Madison was naïve,
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that he was childish,
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and that his goal was
to turn the United States
to turn the United States
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into a primitive autarchy,
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self-reliant and completely ineffectual
on the global scale.
on the global scale.
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(Laughter)
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They both meant it,
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and there was some truth
to each of their claims,
to each of their claims,
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because each side was grossly exaggerating
the views of the other
the views of the other
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in order to fight their war.
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They founded newspapers,
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and so for the first time in US history,
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the news that people received
came entirely through the lens
came entirely through the lens
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of either the Republican
or the Federalist party.
or the Federalist party.
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How does this end?
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Well, as it turned out,
the Constitution did its work.
the Constitution did its work.
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But it did its work in surprising ways
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that Madison himself
had not fully anticipated.
had not fully anticipated.
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First, there was a series of elections.
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And the first two times out of the box,
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the Federalists destroyed the Republicans.
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Madison was astonished.
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Of course, he blamed the press.
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(Laughter)
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And in a rather innovative view --
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Madison never failed to innovate
when he thought about anything --
when he thought about anything --
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he said the reason
that the press was so pro-Federalist
that the press was so pro-Federalist
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is that the advertisers
were all Federalists,
were all Federalists,
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because they were traders on the coasts
who got their capital from Britain,
who got their capital from Britain,
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which Federalism was in bed with.
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That was his initial explanation.
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But despite the fact that the Federalists,
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once in power,
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actually enacted laws that criminalized
criticism of the government --
criticism of the government --
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that happened in the United States --
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nevertheless,
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the Republicans fought back,
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and Madison began to emphasize
the freedom of speech,
the freedom of speech,
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which he had built
into the Bill of Rights,
into the Bill of Rights,
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and the capacity of civil society
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to organize.
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And sure enough, nationally,
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small local groups -- they were called
Democratic-Republican Societies --
Democratic-Republican Societies --
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began to form and protest
against Federalist-dominated hegemony.
against Federalist-dominated hegemony.
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Eventually, the Republicans managed
to win a national election --
to win a national election --
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that was in 1800.
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Madison became the Secretary of State,
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his friend and mentor Jefferson
became president,
became president,
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and they actually, over time,
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managed to put the Federalists
completely out of business.
completely out of business.
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That was their goal.
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Now, why did that happen?
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It happened because in the structure
of the Constitution
of the Constitution
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were several features
that actually managed faction
that actually managed faction
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the way there were supposed to do
in the first place.
in the first place.
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What were those?
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One -- most important of all --
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the freedom of speech.
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This was an innovative idea at the time.
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Namely, that if you were out of power,
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you could still say
that the government was terrible.
that the government was terrible.
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Two,
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civil society organization.
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The capacity to put together
private groups, individuals,
private groups, individuals,
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political parties and others
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who would organize to try to bring
about fundamental change.
about fundamental change.
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Perhaps most significantly
was the separation of powers --
was the separation of powers --
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an extraordinary component
of the Constitution.
of the Constitution.
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The thing about the separation of powers
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is that it did then and it does now,
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drive governance to the center.
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You can get elected to office
in the United States
in the United States
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with help from the periphery,
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right or left.
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It turns out,
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you actually can't govern
unless you bring on board the center.
unless you bring on board the center.
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There are midterm elections
that come incredibly fast
that come incredibly fast
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after a presidency begins.
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Those drive presidents towards the center.
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There's a structure in which
the president, in fact, does not rule
the president, in fact, does not rule
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or even govern,
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but can only propose laws
which other people have to agree with --
which other people have to agree with --
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another feature that tends
to drive presidents
to drive presidents
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who actually want to get things done
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to the center.
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And a glance at the newspapers today
will reveal to you
will reveal to you
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that these principles are still
completely in operation.
completely in operation.
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No matter how a president gets elected,
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the president cannot get anything done
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unless the president first of all
follows the rules of the Constitution,
follows the rules of the Constitution,
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because if not,
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the courts will stand up,
as indeed has sometimes occurred,
as indeed has sometimes occurred,
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not only recently,
but in the past, in US history.
but in the past, in US history.
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And furthermore,
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the president needs people,
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elected officials who know
they need to win election
they need to win election
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from centrist voters,
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also to back his or her policies
in order to pass laws.
in order to pass laws.
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Without it, nothing much happens.
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The takeaway of this brief excursus
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into the history of partisanship,
then, is the following:
then, is the following:
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partisanship is real;
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it's profound;
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it's extraordinarily powerful,
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and it's terribly upsetting.
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But the design of the Constitution
is greater than partisanship.
is greater than partisanship.
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It enables us to manage partisanship
when that's possible,
when that's possible,
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and it enables us actually
to overcome partisan division
to overcome partisan division
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and produce compromise,
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when and only when that is possible.
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A technology like that
is a technology that worked
is a technology that worked
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for the founders,
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it worked for their grandchildren,
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it didn't work at the moment
of the Civil War,
of the Civil War,
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but then it started working again.
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And it worked for our grandparents,
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our parents,
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and it's going to work for us.
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(Applause)
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So what you should do is really simple.
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Stand up for what you believe in,
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support the organizations
that you care about,
that you care about,
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speak out on the issues
that matter to you,
that matter to you,
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get involved,
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make change,
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express you opinion,
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and do it with respect
and knowledge and confidence
and knowledge and confidence
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that it's only by working together
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that the constitutional technology
can do the job that it is designed to do.
can do the job that it is designed to do.
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Stand up for what you believe,
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but take a deep breath while you do it.
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It's going to be OK.
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Thanks.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Noah Feldman - Constitutional law scholarNoah Feldman studies the intersection of religion, politics and law.
Why you should listen
Noah Feldman is a professor and writer who tries to figure out how to make the government follow the rules; what the rules are that the government has to follow; and what to do if the rules are being broken. In his work, he asks questions like: How can a 225-year-old constitutional blueprint still work? Can you design a new and better constitution from scratch in places like Iraq and Tunisia? What rights do we have, really?
Feldman is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a contributing writer for Bloomberg View. He served as senior constitutional advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and advised members of the Iraqi Governing Council on the drafting of the Transitional Administrative Law or interim constitution. He is writing a biography on James Madison, principal author of the Constitution and fourth president of the US; it's forthcoming in 2017.
Feldman is the author of six other books: Cool War: The Future of Global Competition (Random House, 2013); Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court Justices (Twelve Publishing, 2010); The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (Princeton University Press, 2008); Divided By God: America's Church-State Problem and What We Should Do About It (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2005); What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Nation-building (Princeton University Press 2004) and After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy (Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2003. He most recently co-authored two textbooks: Constitutional Law, Eighteenth Edition (Foundation Press, 2013) and First Amendment Law, Fifth Edition (Foundation Press, 2013).
Noah Feldman | Speaker | TED.com