Critical Vocabulary
Their circumstances and values are not the same.
There are some issues that we all share.
Passions can help form opinions, and opinions can focus and inflame passions.
It would state the new government’s beliefs and tenets for all to read.
They believed that it was fair for those who own the most to benefit the most from tax dollars.
There are less competing groups, ideas, and values to address and overcome.
A greater number of individuals results in more variety.
They each feel that they can easily relate to the other members of the group.
Vocabulary Strategy: Evaluating Nuances in Meaning
Declamation has a connotation of being strong and negative. Madison notes that adversaries of liberty (which he holds dear) make specious (or misleading and false) declaration.
The word alarm heightens the concern to the status of being something that is very dire. He uses this and other words to inflame the passion of the reader.
He uses the word contending because these are cerebral disputes, not physical altercations or fights. He is discussing competing ideas, but they are not the common enemy.
He uses the word cabal to ascribe a bad and secretive intent to the group. He also mentions the word sinister, and the idea of corruption to convey the same idea.