# XV: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union explained — The Federalist Papers > Chapter companion for The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton. ## What happens Hamilton argues that the current Confederation is fundamentally inadequate to preserve the Union, citing the inability to enforce compliance, the tendency of states to prioritize local interests over national ones, and the resulting paralysis of the national government. He details the practical failures—unpaid debts, foreign encroachments, lack of military and treasury, and economic decline—as evidence that the Confederation must be replaced. ## Themes in this chapter ### Federalism and the Necessity of Union Hamilton argues that the Confederation's structure, which requires unanimous state consent for major measures, is inherently flawed and leads to paralysis, making a stronger union essential. ### Human Nature and the Capacity for Self-Government The paper emphasizes that human passions and selfishness, especially in collective bodies, undermine compliance with national measures, necessitating a government with coercive power. ### Economic Prosperity and Commerce Hamilton cites the decline of commerce, low land values, and lack of public credit as direct consequences of the Confederation's insufficiency. ## Character check-ins ### Publius The authorial voice addressing the people of New York, arguing for the necessity of a stronger union. ### Alexander Hamilton The likely author of this paper, presenting a detailed critique of the Confederation's weaknesses. ### Congress Described as scarcely possessing the means to keep up the forms of administration, highlighting the Confederation's failure. ## Key lines > Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint. Government exists because people's emotions and self-interest prevent them from following reason and fairness unless forced to do so. _Hamilton grounds the necessity of government in the inherent flaws of human nature._ > The measures of the Union have not been executed; the delinquencies of the states have, step by step, matured themselves to an extreme, which has, at length, arrested all the wheels of the national government, and brought them to an awful stand. The states' failures to comply with federal requisitions have gradually worsened, eventually bringing the national government to a complete halt. _This illustrates the practical failure of the Confederation's reliance on voluntary state cooperation._ > Are we in a condition to resent or to repel the aggression? We have neither troops, nor treasury, nor government. We lack the military, financial resources, and effective government needed to defend against foreign threats. _Hamilton highlights the Confederation's inability to provide for national security._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_federalist_papers_se/chapters/xv-the-insufficiency-of-the-present-confederation-to-preserve-the-union - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_federalist_papers_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_federalist_papers_se/chapters