Defense, Standing Armies—Brutus # X vs. Federalist # 8, 16, 24-29, 41, 85

SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 The Propriety of the Standing Army

Brutus versus Hamilton and Madison

The debates over the constitution between 1787 and 1788 dealt with many s . One of the most harshly debated s was over the Federalist faction seeking the existence of a standing army . The Anti-Federalist forces , led by Brutus , argued against it . This will summarize both arguments from the primary sources only , and then argue the opinion of the writer between them

The Anti-Federalists were the defenders of liberty and decentralization . The basic argument here is

that the standing army is in itself , an attack on liberty . The government will then begin ruling not by consent , but by fear (Brutus , 1787 , I . Once the state realizes that it does not need consent , it can rely on brute force to compel obedience . The Constitution will then be subverted by those who manage to gain control over the army for their own purposes

Brutus quotes from a Mr . Putney , and his remarks mirror those of Brutus himself . Putney holds that the mentality of an army is radically different from the American mentality . The American is free , the soldier is not , the American challenged laws , the soldier blindly follows them the American views politics as local , the soldier , as centralized , etc (Brutus , 1788 , VII . The military mentality here , as such , is under attack as being to radically different from the average American . In consequence , the soldier becomes something other than an American , he becomes a foreigner because...