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Federalist No. 25
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Federalist Papers, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Importance of the Constitution
The Necessity of a Strong Union
Leadership and Representation
Checks and Balances
Federal Power vs. States Rights
Summary
Analysis
Alexander Hamilton asserts that fears of a standing army leading to tyranny are exaggerated because the U.S. Constitution includes strong safeguards against military abuse. He acknowledges that throughout history, some governments have used armies to oppress their own people, but he insists that America’s system of checks and balances prevents this from happening. The Constitution ensures that military funding must be approved by Congress every two years, keeping the army under democratic control. This means that if a government ever tried to misuse the military, the people’s elected representatives could defund it.
Hamilton situates his defense of a standing army within a broader historical tension between military necessity and fears of authoritarianism—a debate that had deep roots in both European and American political thought. By referencing the biennial funding requirement, he ties the Constitution directly to English traditions of parliamentary oversight, established after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In Britain, the Bill of Rights of 1689 limited the monarch’s power to maintain a standing army without parliamentary approval, a model Hamilton mirrors to ease American fears of unchecked military authority.
Themes
Hamilton also points out that those who oppose a standing army ignore the reality that a nation must be prepared for threats. He warns that completely rejecting the idea of a national military would leave the country weak and vulnerable. Britain, which has a history of protecting individual liberties, maintains a standing army under civilian oversight, proving that military power does not automatically lead to oppression.
Hamilton’s strategic use of Britain as an example serves a dual purpose. While Americans still carried fresh grievances from the Revolutionary War, Britain’s parliamentary system remained a touchstone for debates about constitutional liberty. By pointing to Britain’s ability to maintain both a standing army and civil liberties, Hamilton counters the Anti-Federalist claim that a national military inevitably leads to tyranny. Simultaneously, he warns against the idealistic notion that the U.S., protected by geography, could afford to be militarily unprepared.
Themes
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