Federalist Papers

Understanding the Federalist Papers

See Federalist Papers entries (category page)

The Federalist Papers

• a series of 85 essays published in New York newspapers and distributed nationally in 1787-1788
• the essays explained and defended the proposed federal constitution of 1787
  • which can be generally defined as creation of a new, centralized government under "republican" principles
    • those being representation, separation of powers, and limits on the power of the majority
• see here for audio book version of the Federalist papers:
  • The Federalist Papers (version 2) (librivox.org)

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• the essays were signed "Publius"
  • Publius Valerius was one of founders of the Roman Republic who overthrew the Etruscan kings

Authors:

• • Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison

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• Alexander Hamilton
  • • important federalist thinker and politician
    • was Washington's first Secretary of the Treasury
    • Hamilton applied federalist principles towards application of the central government's powers
• John Jay
  • an important Revolutionary era patriot, diplomat and political leader
  • Jay became the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• James Madison
  • provided the philosophical basis for the new Constitution
  • became fourth president
  • known as the "father of the Constitution" because:
    • Madison set the agenda for the Constitutional Convention
      • he created a "blueprint" (outline) for the new constitution
    • and framed his ideas through history and philosophy
• Federalist Papers identified authorship:
  • Alexander Hamilton (51 articles: Nos. 1, 6–9, 11–13, 15–17, 21–36, 59–61, and 65–85)
  • John Jay (5 articles: Nos. 2–5 and 64).
  • James Madison (29 articles: Nos. 10, 14, 18–20,[14] 37–58 and 62–63)

Publication

• the Papers were published in three New York newspapers
  • Daily Journal, New-York Packet and Daily Advertiser
  • they were reprinted elsewhere and subsequently printed as a collection

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"Addressed to the People of New York"

• New York State was a battleground for the arguments over adopting the proposed Constitution because of strong anti-federalist sentiment, including the Governor at the time, George Clinton.
• While the Federalist (so-called at the time) was reprinted elsewhere, it's largest circulation was in New York
  • it is unclear the extent to which it influenced other states, such as Pennsylvania which ratified the Constitution amidst the publication of the Federalist Papers.
  • Regardless of their direct impact upon the ratification of the Constitution, the Federalist Papers magnificently laid out the logic, reasons, and purposes of the proposed Constitution and have ever since been used by historians, the Courts, and the federal and state governments for guidance and clarification of the meaning of the Constitution.

Purpose of the Federalist Papers

• to explain and defend the proposed Constitution
• and to counter arguments made against it by the anti-federalists
• to influence the states to adopt the new constitution

Ideas behind the Papers

• to identify the need for a strong central government
• to identify the protections for the states and the people from that central government
  • principally through separation of powers, checks & balances, and accountability to the people

Legacy of the Papers:

• • stand as evidence of the ideas and intentions behind the design of the Constitution
  • have been used in Courts in order to help define the legal meanings of the Constitution
  • remind Americans of the philosophy of government behind the Constitution

Background

• a new "federal" Constitution was adopted by the Constitutional Convention of 1787
• this constitution was to replace the existing "Confederation" government that operated under the "Articles of Confederation"
  • see Articles of Confederation