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Danielle Burke

Mrs. Pastore

English 11 Honors

8 January 2016

Balance of Individualism vs. Strong Government

After the American Revolution, Americans envisioned a new future for their nation.

However, in the new nation, a balance between preserving individual rights and forming a strong

and long-lasting union was needed. The Declaration of Independence, by Thomas Jefferson, The

United States Constitution: Preamble and Bill of Rights, and The Federalist No. 10, by James

Madison, all include the conflict between a strong, centralized government and individualism.

The authors of these texts believed that all people should have rights and that no government

should have absolute power over them, but they also believed a strong government was needed

in order to keep the nation from being corrupt and having conflict. Overall, the three texts

include how there needs to be a balance of individualism and a strong union in order for the new

nation to function how they want it to.

To begin, The Declaration of Independence stresses the importance of finding a balance

between preserving individual rights and forming a strong and long-lasting union. Jefferson was

a big believer in individual rights and wanted all individuals to live free from any dictatorship

and have independence. Jefferson emphasizes how important it is that no government dictates the

people wrongly and he writes, But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing

invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their

right, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future
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security. (112). Here, he is expressing how if any government tries to have complete power over

the people and abuses their power, the people have the right to rebel and throw off the

government. However, even though Jefferson was a huge supporter of individualism, he also

expresses how a strong, centralized government, is important for the new nation, as long as the

government is not destructive towards the people. He expresses this thought when he writes,

That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers

from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive

of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new

government (112). He believes that to secure the people's rights, a government is important, so

as long as the government is all for the people, it is important for the new nation. Overall, The

Declaration of Independence stresses the importance of finding a balance between preserving

individual rights and forming a strong and long-lasting union for the new nation.

In addition, The United States Constitution also includes how there needs to be a balance

between preserving individual rights and forming a strong and long-lasting union in order for the

new nation to function how they want it to. The Constitution includes many amendments that

protect the rights of the citizens, which includes Amendment 1 that states, Congress shall make

no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or

abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,

and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances (122). Amendment 1 stresses how

Congress should not make any laws that strip away the freedoms from the citizens and the people

have a right to peacefully protest and petition the Government if their freedoms are taken away.

Not only does The Constitution stress the importance of individuals rights, it also includes the
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importance of having a strong government when it states, And as extending the ground of

public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution

(122). It is believed that having public confidence in the government will be beneficial. It is

shown that not only is having individual rights important, a strong government is also beneficial

in order to achieve the best nation they can have. Therefore, The United States Constitution

states the importance of having a balance between individualism and a strong government in

order to have the best nation possible.

Lastly, The Federalist No. 10 by James Madison especially expresses the importance of a

strong government. But, Madison includes the importance of individualism too and how a

balance between individualism and a strong government is important. Madison includes how

individual rights should be protected when he writes, To secure the public good and private

rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the

form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed (133).

Madison thinks that the peoples rights should be protected against a faction. However, Madison

believes strongly that a powerful government is need in order to ensure good in the public. For

example, Madison writes, Under such a regulation, it may well happen that the public voice,

pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than

if pronounced by the people themselves convened for the purpose (134). He thinks that

decisions made by a representative of people/government is better than if the public made

decisions themselves. Madison also writes, No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause,

because his interest would certainly bias his judgement, and, not improbably, corrupt his

integrity (131), which shows how a strong government is needed because people can not make
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decisions by themselves because everyone has a different opinion on things and they would be

bias to their own opinion. Therefore, Madison believes that a balance of individualism and a

strong, centralized government is needed because he believes that people should have rights, but

a government is needed to ensure these rights.

To conclude, The Declaration of Independence, by Thomas Jefferson, The United States

Constitution: Preamble and Bill of Rights, and The Federalist No. 10, by James Madison, all

include the conflict between a strong, centralized government and individualism. Each text

expresses how individual rights are important and no one should have absolute power over them,

but a strong government is needed to ensure the peoples rights and to make sure the nation is not

corrupt. Without a balance of both, the nation would be full of conflict. Overall, the importance

of finding a balance between preserving individual rights and forming a strong and long-lasting

union is very important for the new nation that the Americans wanted and both are necessary for

the nation to function.

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Works Cited

Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." Collections. Orlando: Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt, 2015. 112-16. Print.

Madison, James. "The Federalist No. 10." Collections. Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

2015. 129-36. Print.

"The United States Constitution: Preamble and Bill of Rights." Collections. Orlando: Houghton

Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. 121-24. Print.