The standard story about America's founding era goes something like this. One group of founders, such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, insisted on a strong federal government to replace the spineless Articles of Confederation, while the other preferred to leave much more authority with the states and warned about the dangers of an overweening federal government. Both sides were committed to democracy, and they forged a compromise that preserved elements of both positions when they gathered in Philadelphia to hammer out the Constitution in 1787.
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