James Madison argues in the tenth Federalist Paper that one of the biggest threats to the new United States Constitution is factions, or a number of citizens who share a common purpose, generally with a negative affect on the citizenry as a whole. He shows two ways of fixing this problem, either removing the causes of factionalism, or controlling its effects. (Madison, 1787)
To remove the causes, he says that we could either destroy liberty, which he says “would be to wish the annihilation of air… because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.” or give everyone the same interests, passions, and beliefs, which is “impracticable.”(Madison, 1787)
Madison argues that a Union of states, rather than a Confederacy, would accomplish this goal of reducing and controlling factionalism.(Madison, 1787)