Federalist No. 27

Federalist No. 27 is an essay by Alexander Hamilton, the twenty-seventh of the Federalist Papers. It was published on December 25, 1787 under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all the Federalist Papers were published. This is the second of three essays discussing the threat to the common good stemming from excessive restraint on legislative authority. It is titled, "The Same Subject Continued: The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered."

Precis
Hamilton argues that the combined forces of many states, under the direction of one federal government, will provide a much greater show of force and be more apt to discourage rebellion. He reasons that confederacies are more prone to violence and war, and that extending the authority of the federal government to the citizen, rather than the state, is the only way to have power.