Reading Publius. Federalist No. 4: United We Stand
by Patrick Wynne, Project CIVICA Precinct Strategy Coordinator and Kim Hermance, President and Co-Director Project CIVICA
John Jay’s Federalist No. 4 was one of the earliest essays written in support of the Constitution and the proposed Union. Understanding Jay’s background is important because he was not writing as a political theorist detached from events, he was writing as a statesman with firsthand experience dealing with the dangers facing the young republic.
Before the adoption of the Constitution, the United States operated under the Articles of Confederation, the nation’s first governing framework. Under the Articles, the states remained largely sovereign and the national government was intentionally weak. Congress lacked the authority to tax directly, regulate commerce effectively, or consistently enforce national policies. The system depended heavily on voluntary cooperation from the states, which often proved unreliable and inefficient.
The governing body under this system was the Continental Congress, first organized during the Revolutionary era. The Continental Congress served as the central political authority of the colonies — and later the states — during the Revolution. It coordinated the war effort, managed diplomacy, and ultimately declared independence from Great Britain. After independence, it continued as the national governing body under the Articles of Confederation. However, Congress possessed limited powers and struggled to maintain unity among the states or present a strong national front to foreign nations.
John Jay occupied several of the most important leadership positions during this critical period. He served as President of the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1779. Although the position was not equivalent to the modern presidency, it placed Jay at the center of national affairs during the Revolutionary War. He witnessed firsthand the weaknesses of the confederation system, including the inability of Congress to compel cooperation or reliably secure resources from the states.
Even more importantly, Jay later served as Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation from 1784 to 1789. In many ways, this office functioned similarly to what would later become the Secretary of State. Jay was responsible for managing relations with foreign governments at a time when the United States was diplomatically vulnerable and economically fragile.
From this position, Jay dealt directly with European powers such as Great Britain, Spain, and France. He saw how foreign nations viewed America’s internal divisions as opportunities to advance their own interests. Britain still maintained military posts in the western territories despite the Treaty of Paris. Spain restricted American access to the Mississippi River. European powers questioned whether the United States could even function as a stable nation because Congress lacked the authority to enforce treaties or ensure compliance by the individual states.
These experiences deeply shaped Jay’s arguments in the Federalist Papers. His warnings in Federalist No. 4 were not abstract speculation; they were informed by years of diplomatic experience observing how foreign governments exploit weakness, regional division, and political instability.
In Federalist No. 4, Jay argues that a united federal government is far better equipped to protect the nation in times of conflict than several smaller confederacies or loosely connected states. One nation acting together could marshal military strength, economic resources, and coordinated policy far more effectively than fragmented regional alliances.
Jay’s argument strongly reflects what today is often called “peace through strength.” He believed that unity itself discouraged aggression because foreign nations would hesitate to challenge a strong and cohesive republic.
One of Jay’s central warnings concerns foreign influence. He explains that other nations would not necessarily celebrate America’s success or prosperity. Many European powers viewed the United States as a future commercial rival and would prefer to see the states divided into competing confederacies weakened by mutual jealousy and resentment.
Jay warned that foreign powers would actively attempt to inflame regional disagreements and divide Americans into factions for their own benefit. He understood from direct diplomatic experience that disunity invited interference. His observations remain remarkably relevant today. When we witness growing hostility between states, cities, political factions, and even neighbors, it is difficult not to recognize the danger the Founding generation warned about repeatedly.
Federalist No. 4 also reflects the broader concern among the Founders that republican self-government depended not only on constitutional structures, but on national cohesion and civic unity. Jay feared that fragmentation would eventually produce instability, conflict, and the erosion of liberty itself.
He closes the essay with two contrasting visions for America’s future. In one, the states remain united under a strong and organized Union where citizens are secure, industrious, and free to pursue happiness according to their own judgment. In the other, the states fracture into rival confederacies that grow increasingly hostile toward one another while foreign powers exploit and deepen those divisions.
His final warning remains especially powerful:
“How soon would dear-bought experience proclaim, that when a people or family so divide, it never fails to be against themselves.”
That sentence captures the central lesson of Federalist No. 4: that internal division may ultimately become more dangerous to a republic than any foreign enemy.