Opinion Of Author Ed Millican example essay topic

Within the pages of One United People: The Federalist Papers and the National Idea, author Ed Millican dissects not only The Federalist piece by piece, but scrutinizes numerous works of other authors in regards to the papers written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. As a result, a strong conclusion asserts that the motives of The Federalist was to create a sturdy nation-state but above all, that American polity is far more complex than pluralism and a free-market economy. The very last statement in the book reads, "The Federalist, the blueprint of the American nation". This statement alone can summarize the opinion of author Ed Millican as well as many others, but many pages before that is written, the author goes on to examine and explain the many ideas surrounding Publius, including the numerous interpretations of The Federalist, as well as the political objectives of the work as well. However, instead of merely stating the facts and then contributing his opinion, Millican breaks each part of Publius, including the founding fathers who created the pen name, their individual contributions, as well as what exactly a nation-state is. With the help of a significant amount of evidence, Milican continues to assert that Publius was entirely a nationalist and believed heavily in the Lockean ideals that people want to be a unified nation.

The very first chapter comes on strong by giving examples of the many interpretations of Publius. Millican then either counters these arguments or accommodates them to his own conclusions. Afterwards, Publius' mission in pre-Constitutional America is discussed, as well as the idea that The Federalist indeed had Nationalistic tendencies. The next section of the book contributes to perhaps the most appealing aspect of the whole book.

Because the concept of the nation-state was brought up in the previous chapter, Millican elaborates on exactly what a nation-state is, as well as historical examples of the evolution of central regimes, but moreover the condition of the United States at the time The Federalist was in print. This provided an excellent introduction into what becomes the lion's share of the book, which was Hamilton, Madison, and Jay's contribution and actions in their respective volumes of The Federalist. This is unique because virtually every attempt at the motives of these works have only taken pieces of The Federalist and used, at most, a handful of essays of the 85 that collectively make up the collection. Millican, however, goes through the entire gamut, beginning the Jay and his 5 contributions, and then going back and forth between Hamilton and Madison respectively, and categorized their most significant motives chapter by chapter.

Finally, the author recalls earlier chapters that hinted of Publius' nationalism mixed with Lockean liberalism, and concludes the book with "The Significance of The Federalist" where everything is essentially summarized, including a final reminder of the author's opinion of the work. "It", concludes Milican, "asserts an ideal of positive, strong, centralized government... ". I gathered the author wanted not only to show the significance of The Federalist, but to prove that it is expressing a message that "American tradition is more complex and inclusive than it is frequently presumed to be". If had to maintain one opinion about the book's strengths, it would be that it is very "complete". To explain, every possible argument, for or against Millican's interpretation of The Federalist, is considered and then commented on thoroughly.

Also, the book is written in a way that is approachable without any extensive knowledge of political science, much less the works of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. I can use myself as an example of this contention; my knowledge of political science was limited to the general education received in grade school. However, any terms or events that would otherwise be unknown were thoroughly explained. As a result, a very believable assertion is made on behalf of the author that is not only sustained with copious amounts of evidence, but above all is understood. Millican did an excellent job of considering the audience in his work including answering any questions which may arise during its interpretation and leaving the reader with an opinion and only an opinion of the book. For that matter, the strengths of the book far overshadow the weaknesses.

Of course, being of the subject of political science, an acquired taste is needed to be genuinely interested in the book and make it a page-turner. I, myself, have not yet acquired such taste. However, the more practical approach taken by Millican made it easier to read. In my opinion, the book was more a curriculum that could be approached in a linear fashion, similar to a classroom lecture, rather than a scholarly thesis that is hard to encounter, if at all. In spite of this, I did find myself wandering when the author would, for example, recollect historical events to eventually lead up to his own point or use other author's arguments and either refute or accommodate them. To elaborate, in the very first chapter titled, "Will the Real Publius Please Stand Up?" , some forty-one references are made from arguments, statements, or works of others to fortify the author's eventual conclusion of Publius' intent.

This of course is important and helped create a strong thesis, but for a chapter that was only twenty-one pages, it felt overwhelming. This plethora of evidence was consistent throughout the book, but not as much as the introductory chapter. Gradually as the text progresses, Millican is unswerving on the strengths of the book mentioned above, which overall, made the book a powerful contribution. One United People was an excellent source of information, more so because of Millican's determination to make the concepts clear.

As a result, years of history and the ideas of many other authors are mentioned in the author's successful attempt to make a strong argument. For instance, in the third chapter titled, "The Idea of the Nation-Sate", the idea of nationalism is approached in every possible way in order to define it. One of the approaches used to define nationalism was using history and current events to describe the development of nationalism from conception to the ongoing perfection at present day. Because of my lack of knowledge of the entire topic of The Federalist, including surrounding and adjacent works and opinions, the entire book was an educational experience for me. To put it plainly, I had no idea what The Federalist papers were or who Publius was, much less ascertain he is a collection of a few founding fathers. Consequently, I appreciated the thoroughness of the book for my sake, or else I otherwise might have been entirely lost.

If I were to pinpoint a chapter that had the most to gain from its reading, I would say the final chapter, titled "The Significance of The Federalist" was the most relative. It summarized the previous chapters and explained what I wanted to know from the beginning of the book: the significance, in the author's opinion, of The Federalist. From this chapter I gained some of the appreciation the author has for The Federalist, as well as become informed of all things concerning this work by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, including the idea of the nation-state before, during, and after the ratification of the US Constitution. Even though I did not read the book at a pace I was most comfortable with, I appreciated that the author's consideration for its readers, and that I got much out of the book without being completely comfortable with its topic or content.

I would recommend the book the anyone interested in the history of American nationalism, because it not only writes about The Federalist and our founder fathers, but involves works from virtually everywhere. Essentially, Millican has done all the reading for the reader, and regardless if one does not agree with his opinion of the political objectives of Publius, one can definitely generate his / her own opinion for themselves; that is how informative the book is..