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The Federalist Papers is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton , James Madison , and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States . The collection was commonly known as The Federalist until the name The Federalist Papers emerged in the twentieth century.

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59-906: The first seventy-seven of these essays were published serially in the Independent Journal , the New York Packet , and The Daily Advertiser between October 1787 and April 1788. A compilation of these 77 essays and eight others were published in two volumes as The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787 , by publishing firm J. & A. McLean in March and May 1788. The last eight papers (Nos. 78–85) were republished in

118-618: A "dubious distinction". Probably of greater importance to the Virginia debate, in any case, were George Washington's support for the proposed Constitution and the presence of Madison and Edmund Randolph , the governor, at the convention arguing for ratification. Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other In Federalist No. 1 , Hamilton listed six topics to be covered in

177-475: A baneful aristocracy, by which the democratic rights of the people will be overwhelmed". Initially, there was not much controversy over the power between the Senate and President in treaty making. Still, the Senate had many differences because of different political views. Multiple arguments were submitted to the Senate between 1789 and 1815, and there were no rejections. Over time, the checks and balances between

236-626: A few days later in the other two. Following its publication of the seventh Federalist , The Independent Journal made an announcement: In order that the whole subject of these Papers may be as soon as possible laid before the Public, it is proposed to publish them four times a week, on Tuesday in the New York Packet and on Thursday in the Daily Advertiser . In its announcement, the newspaper omitted to note its own publication dates, which continued to be on Wednesdays and Saturdays. However,

295-427: A global financial crisis, and climate change". The identity of the author of Federalist paper No. 64 was long disputed. The exact reason why the authorship was lost is unknown; however, different theories emerged as to why the authorship was not evident. The first and most likely of the theories is that John Jay became ill, and No. 64 was not published at the same time as the other Federalist Papers . The second theory

354-568: A leading member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia (1789–1797), secretary of state (1801–1809), and ultimately the fourth president of the United States (1809–1817). John Jay, who had been secretary for foreign affairs under the Articles of Confederation from 1784 through their expiration in 1789, became the first Chief Justice of the United States in 1789, stepping down in 1795 to accept election as governor of New York,

413-401: A list emerged, claiming that he alone had written two-thirds of The Federalist essays. Some believe that several of these essays were written by Madison (Nos. 49–58 and 62–63). The scholarly detective work of Douglass Adair in 1944 postulated the following assignments of authorship, corroborated in 1964 by a computer analysis of the text: In six months, a total of 85 articles were written by

472-488: A list of the only rights that people had. However, Hamilton's opposition to a Bill of Rights was far from universal. Robert Yates , writing under the pseudonym " Brutus ", articulated this view point in the so-called Anti-Federalist No. 84 , asserting that a government unrestrained by such a bill could easily devolve into tyranny. References in The Federalist and in the ratification debates warn of demagogues of

531-592: A measured defense and extensive explanation of the proposed Constitution to the people of the state of New York. He wrote in Federalist No. 1 that the series would "endeavor to give a satisfactory answer to all the objections which shall have made their appearance, that may seem to have any claim to your attention." Hamilton recruited collaborators for the project. He enlisted John Jay , who after four essays ( Federalist Nos. 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 ), fell ill and contributed only one more essay, Federalist No. 64 , to

590-456: A one-man chief executive. In Federalist No. 39 , Madison presents the clearest exposition of what has come to be called " Federalism ". In Federalist No. 51 , Madison distills arguments for checks and balances in an essay often quoted for its justification of government as "the greatest of all reflections on human nature." According to historian Richard B. Morris , the essays that make up The Federalist Papers are an "incomparable exposition of

649-481: A post he held for two terms, retiring in 1801. The Federalist articles appeared in three New York newspapers: The Independent Journal , the New-York Packet , and the Daily Advertiser , beginning on October 27, 1787. Although written and published with haste, The Federalist articles were widely read and greatly influenced the shape of American political institutions. Hamilton, Madison and Jay published

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708-538: Is an influential piece of the Federalist Papers . The Anti-Federalist Papers was written before the Federalist Papers by Founding Fathers opposed to the merits of the proposed United States Constitution . Three papers touch on the aspects of the Senate defended in Federalist 64. Anti-Federalist 62 discusses how the members of the Senate should be chosen and their organization. People believed that if

767-469: Is questionable. Separate ratification proceedings took place in each state, and the essays were not reliably reprinted outside of New York; furthermore, by the time the series was well underway, a number of important states had already ratified it, for instance Pennsylvania on December 12. New York held out until July 26; certainly The Federalist was more important there than anywhere else, but Furtwangler argues that it "could hardly rival other major forces in

826-494: Is that Jay asked Hamilton and Madison to hide his involvement in the Federalist Papers because his writing was not strong enough; however, this information came from an unidentified source. This theory is supported by the fact that Madison changed the list of authors that Hamilton wrote up. The author was finally confirmed to be John Jay when his descendant of the same name found the original draft of Federalist No. 64, along with multiple The Independent Journal newspapers. Many of

885-612: The Federalist Papers is very influential, discussing the idea of treaties, the mystery behind the author, and the invalidity of the Anti-Federalists' argument. In Federalist No. 64, Jay defends the provision in the Constitution that grants the President the power to make treaties with the consent of two-thirds of the Senate. The Senate can check presidential power and ensure the states are each given an equal vote in

944-606: The United States Bill of Rights . The idea of adding a Bill of Rights to the Constitution was originally controversial because the Constitution, as written, did not specifically enumerate or protect the rights of the people, rather it listed the powers of the government and left all that remained to the states and the people. Alexander Hamilton , the author of Federalist No. 84, feared that such an enumeration, once written down explicitly, would later be interpreted as

1003-438: The Constitution, a classic in political science unsurpassed in both breadth and depth by the product of any later American writer." On June 21, 1788, the proposed Constitution was ratified by the minimum of nine states required under Article VII. In late July 1788, with eleven states having ratified the new Constitution, the process of organizing the new government began. The Federal Convention (Constitutional Convention) sent

1062-561: The Instrument must be derived from the text itself; or if a key is to be sought elsewhere, it must be not in the opinions or intentions of the Body which planned & proposed the Constitution, but in the sense attached to it by the people in their respective State Conventions where it recd. all the authority which it possesses." The Independent Journal The Independent Journal , occasionally known as The General Advertiser ,

1121-487: The McLean edition for essay numbers 77–85. While the authorship of 73 of The Federalist essays is fairly certain, the identities of those who wrote the twelve remaining essays are disputed by some scholars. The modern consensus is that Madison wrote essays Nos. 49–58, with Nos. 18–20 being products of a collaboration between him and Hamilton; No. 64 was by John Jay. The first open designation of which essay belonged to whom

1180-756: The New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787 , Volume I, on March 22, 1788. Publication of the essays resumed on 11 January, and essays thirty-seven to seventy-seven were published from that time through to April 2, 1788. Before the final eight could be published publicly in the newspapers, John McLean compiled and released Volume II of The Federalist essays, which consisted of essays thirty-seven through eighty-five, on May 28, 1788. The eight unpublished essays appeared in The Independent Journal and New York Packet between June 14 and August 16. Federalist No. 64 Federalist No. 64 , titled " The Power of

1239-719: The New York newspapers between June 14 and August 16, 1788. The authors of The Federalist intended to influence the voters to ratify the Constitution. In Federalist No. 1 , they explicitly set that debate in broad political terms: It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not, of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend, for their political constitutions, on accident and force. In Federalist No. 10 , Madison discusses

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1298-421: The New York publishing firm J. & A. McLean announced that they would publish the first 36 essays as a bound volume; that volume was released on March 22, 1788, and was titled The Federalist Volume 1. New essays continued to appear in the newspapers; Federalist No. 77 was the last number to appear first in that form, on April 2. A second bound volume was released on May 28, containing Federalist Nos. 37–77 and

1357-487: The President and Senate have affected the country's ability to make treaties in the best interest of the country successfully. Getting two-thirds of the Senate's approval became a hard process. It seemed more effective for the President to make executive agreements than to negotiate more formal treaties leading to a preference of successive administrations to make executive agreements. The President can act alone and make an executive agreement in relation to foreign policy without

1416-495: The Senate ", is an essay first published in The New York Packet on March 5, 1788, by John Jay as part of the ongoing Federalist Papers . Throughout the Federalist Papers , James Madison , Alexander Hamilton , and Jay emphasize the particular role in the field of foreign affairs (Golove). However, Federalist No. 64 specifically focuses more deeply on the concept of treaties and how they are formed. This essay in

1475-428: The Senate taking part will be beneficial but thinks that it will eventually become "the source of the greatest evils". Finally, Anti-Federalist 64 speaks about the beliefs that the constitution of the Senate sends fear and little hope to the democratic rights. "[It] will swallow up the democratic rights and liberties of the nation...that we have much to fear from it, and little to hope, and then it must necessarily produce

1534-548: The approval of Congress. Over time, there has been a significant increase in executive agreements and a decrease in treaty-making. 1937 was the last year that more treaties were made than executive agreements. Between 1789 and 1839, the US State Department reported 60 treaties and 27 executive agreements; still, by the 20th century, presidents including McKinley, Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt began using more executive agreements on critical foreign situations. Between

1593-431: The approval of the authors. In 1863, Henry Dawson published an edition containing the original text of the papers, arguing that they should be preserved as they were written in that particular historical moment, not as edited by the authors years later. Modern scholars generally use the text prepared by Jacob E. Cooke for his 1961 edition of The Federalist ; this edition used the newspaper texts for essay numbers 1–76 and

1652-528: The author of each individual essay. After examining word choice and writing style, studies generally agree that the disputed essays were written by James Madison. However, there are notable exceptions maintaining that some of the essays which are now widely attributed to Madison were, in fact, collaborative efforts. The Federalist Papers were written to support the ratification of the Constitution, specifically in New York . Whether they succeeded in this mission

1711-438: The authors of that work have been justly supposed to be entitled to great respect in expounding the Constitution. No tribute can be paid to them which exceeds their merit; but in applying their opinions to the cases which may arise in the progress of our government, a right to judge of their correctness must be retained." In a letter to Thomas Ritchie in 1821, James Madison stated of the Constitution that "the legitimate meaning of

1770-433: The authors. Hopkins wished as well that "the name of the writer should be prefixed to each number," but at this point Hamilton insisted that this was not to be, and the division of the essays among the three authors remained a secret. The first publication to divide the papers in such a way was an 1810 edition that used a list left by Hamilton to associate the authors with their numbers; this edition appeared as two volumes of

1829-428: The body. With this being noted, Jay expresses his stance that the Senate represents the state issues and is less knowledgeable in foreign affairs than the President. This concept also supports Jay's belief that the Constitution creates a strong national government that favors the Senate. While the Senate gets a say in the outcome, they do not have a say in how they are passed. With these concepts in mind, Federalist No. 64

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1888-416: The case that there is no need to amend the Constitution by adding a Bill of Rights , insisting that the various provisions in the proposed Constitution protecting liberty amount to a "bill of rights." Federalist No. 78 , also written by Hamilton, lays the groundwork for the doctrine of judicial review by federal courts of federal legislation or executive acts. Federalist No. 70 presents Hamilton's case for

1947-413: The chosen Senate worked for a long time, they would begin only to make decisions for themselves, stating specifically, "The term for which the senate are to be chosen, is in my judgment too long, and no provision being made for a rotation will, I conceive, be of dangerous consequence". Anti-Federalist paper 63 states opinions on the number of people in the Senate and possible problems. The writer agrees that

2006-400: The compiled "Works of Hamilton". In 1818, Jacob Gideon published a new edition with a new listing of authors, based on a list provided by Madison. The difference between Hamilton's list and Madison's formed the basis for a dispute over the authorship of a dozen of the essays. Both Hopkins's and Gideon's editions incorporated significant edits to the text of the papers themselves, generally with

2065-455: The essays at a rapid pace. At times, three to four new essays by Publius appeared in the papers in a single week. Garry Wills observes that this fast pace of production "overwhelmed" any possible response: "Who, given ample time could have answered such a battery of arguments? And no time was given." Hamilton also encouraged the reprinting of the essays in newspapers outside New York state, and indeed they were published in several other states where

2124-643: The essays. Madison did not immediately dispute Hamilton's list, but provided his own list for the 1818 Gideon edition of The Federalist . Madison claimed 29 essays for himself, and he suggested that the difference between the two lists was "owing doubtless to the hurry in which [Hamilton's] memorandum was made out." A known error in Hamilton's list—Hamilton incorrectly ascribed No. 54 to John Jay, when in fact, Jay wrote No. 64—provided some evidence for Madison's suggestion. Statistical analysis has been undertaken on several occasions in attempts to accurately identify

2183-516: The first 20 papers are broken down as 11 by Hamilton, five by Madison and four by Jay. The rest of the series, however, is dominated by three long segments by a single writer: Nos. 21–36 by Hamilton, Nos. 37–58 by Madison, written while Hamilton was in Albany, and No. 65 through the end by Hamilton, published after Madison had left for Virginia. The Federalist Papers (specifically Federalist No. 84 ) are notable for their opposition to what later became

2242-470: The first decision to mention The Federalist ). By 2000, The Federalist had been quoted 291 times in Supreme Court decisions. The amount of deference that should be given to The Federalist Papers in constitutional interpretation has always been somewhat controversial. As early as 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall noted in the famous case McCulloch v. Maryland , that "the opinions expressed by

2301-417: The impact of The Federalist on New York citizens was "negligible". As for Virginia, which ratified the Constitution only at its convention on June 25, Hamilton writes in a letter to Madison that the collected edition of The Federalist had been sent to Virginia; Furtwangler presumes that it was to act as a "debater's handbook for the convention there", though he claims that this indirect influence would be

2360-529: The invitation, and Hamilton rejected three essays written by Duer. Duer later wrote in support of the three Federalist authors under the name "Philo-Publius", meaning either "Friend of the People" or "Friend of Hamilton" based on Hamilton's pen name Publius . Hamilton chose the pseudonymous name "Publius". While many other pieces representing both sides of the constitutional debate were written under Roman names, historian Albert Furtwangler contends that " 'Publius'

2419-402: The means of preventing rule by majority faction and advocates a large, commercial republic . This is complemented by Federalist No. 14 , in which Madison takes the measure of the United States, declares it appropriate for an extended republic, and concludes with a memorable defense of the constitutional and political creativity of the Federal Convention. In Federalist No. 84 , Hamilton makes

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2478-512: The plan as outlined in The Independent Journal was not consistently followed; The Daily Advertiser stopped publishing in the agreed order after the release of the tenth essay. From November 30 onward, The New York Packet published on Tuesday and Friday, rather than only Tuesday. By January 8, 1788, thirty-six Federalist essays had been published between the newspapers. John McLean bundled these thirty-six together and published them as The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of

2537-709: The presidencies of Roosevelt (1901–1909) and Bush (2001–2005), the use of executive agreements significantly increased, indicating that presidents would rather avoid political differences with the Senate and make foreign policy decisions without discussing a possible treaty with the Senate. One-third of the treaties discussed during the presidencies of Roosevelt and Bush were in the Senate's power. During President Obama's first three years of office, he used many more executive agreements than treaties. To avoid controversy due to politics, President Obama made many executive decisions, including "the use of American military power and solutions to global problems, including nuclear proliferation,

2596-406: The previously unpublished Nos. 78–85. The last eight papers (Nos. 78–85) were republished in the New York newspapers between June 14 and August 16, 1788. A 1792 French edition ended the collective anonymity of Publius, announcing that the work had been written by "Mm. Hamilton, Maddisson e Gay, citoyens de l'État de New York". In 1802, George Hopkins published an American edition that similarly named

2655-548: The proposed Constitution to the Confederation Congress, which in turn submitted it to the states for ratification at the end of September 1787. On September 27, 1787, "Cato" first appeared in the New York press criticizing the proposition; "Brutus" followed on October 18, 1787. These and other articles and public letters critical of the new Constitution would eventually become known as the " Anti-Federalist Papers ". In response, Alexander Hamilton decided to launch

2714-477: The ratification by Virginia, the tenth state, placed pressure on New York to ratify. In light of that, Furtwangler observes, "New York's refusal would make that state an odd outsider." Only 19 Federalists were elected to New York's ratification convention, compared to the Anti-Federalists' 46 delegates. While New York did indeed ratify the Constitution on July 26, the lack of public support for pro-Constitution Federalists has led historian John Kaminski to suggest that

2773-417: The ratification contests"—specifically, these forces included the personal influence of well-known Federalists, for instance Hamilton and Jay, and Anti-Federalists , including Governor George Clinton . Further, by the time New York came to a vote, ten states had already ratified the Constitution and it had thus already passed—only nine states had to ratify it for the new government to be established among them;

2832-490: The ratification debate was taking place. However, they were only irregularly published outside New York, and in other parts of the country they were often overshadowed by local writers. Because the essays were initially published in New York, most of them begin with the same salutation : "To the People of the State of New York". The high demand for the essays led to their publication in a more permanent form. On January 1, 1788,

2891-693: The ratification of the United States Constitution , written by John Jay , James Madison and Alexander Hamilton . It became the first newspaper to publish the material when it released the first Federalist essay on October 27, 1787. The release was accompanied by the following notice: The Federalist , addressed to the People of the State of New York. Over the following month, the next seven essays were published by The Independent Journal and two other newspapers, The New York Packet and The Daily Advertiser . The essays appeared on Saturdays and Wednesdays in The Independent Journal , and

2950-441: The series. Jay also distilled his case into a pamphlet in the spring of 1788, An Address to the People of the State of New-York ; Hamilton cited it approvingly in Federalist No. 85 . James Madison, present in New York as a Virginia delegate to the Confederation Congress, was recruited by Hamilton and Jay and became Hamilton's primary collaborator. Gouverneur Morris and William Duer were also considered. However, Morris turned down

3009-427: The subsequent articles: Furtwangler notes that as the series grew, this plan was somewhat changed. The fourth topic expanded into detailed coverage of the individual articles of the Constitution and the institutions it mandated, while the two last topics were merely touched on in the last essay. The papers can be broken down by author as well as by topic. At the start of the series, all three authors were contributing;

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3068-529: The three men. Hamilton, who had been a leading advocate of national constitutional reform throughout the 1780s and was one of the three representatives for New York at the Constitutional Convention , in 1789 became the first secretary of the treasury , a post he held until his resignation in 1795. Madison, who is now acknowledged as the father of the Constitution — despite his repeated rejection of this honor during his lifetime, became

3127-400: The time of publication, the authors of The Federalist Papers attempted to hide their identities due to Hamilton and Madison having attended the convention. Astute observers, however, correctly discerned the identities of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. Establishing authorial authenticity of the essays that constitute The Federalist Papers has not always been clear. After Hamilton's death in 1804,

3186-467: The treaty-making process. He interpreted the Constitution as giving more power to the President through treaties, unlike his other Founding Fathers. They, however, believe that the Senate would gain too much power by doing this. While the "advise and consent" clause was typically understood to give the Senate power to oversee treaty enactment, Jay interpreted the clause as giving the President the power to decide when he wanted to seek "advise and consent" from

3245-515: The variety who through divisive appeals would aim at tyranny. The Federalist begins and ends with this issue. In the final paper Hamilton offers "a lesson of moderation to all sincere lovers of the Union, and ought to put them on their guard against hazarding anarchy, civil war, a perpetual alienation of the States from each other, and perhaps the military despotism of a successful demagogue". The matter

3304-474: Was a cut above ' Caesar ' or ' Brutus ' or even ' Cato '. Publius Valerius helped found the ancient republic of Rome. His more famous name, Publicola, meant 'friend of the people'." Hamilton had applied this pseudonym to three letters in 1778, in which he attacked fellow Federalist Samuel Chase and revealed that Chase had taken advantage of knowledge gained in Congress to try to dominate the flour market. At

3363-422: Was a semi-weekly New York City journal and newspaper edited and published by John McLean and Archibald McLean in the late 18th century. The newspaper's content included contemporary essays and notices. The Independent Journal is primarily remembered for being one of several newspapers to have initially published The Federalist papers – a series of eighty-five articles and essays discussing and advocating

3422-553: Was further clarified by the Ninth Amendment . Federal judges, when interpreting the Constitution, frequently use The Federalist Papers as a contemporary account of the intentions of the framers and ratifiers. They have been applied on issues ranging from the power of the federal government in foreign affairs (in Hines v. Davidowitz ) to the validity of ex post facto laws (in the 1798 decision Calder v. Bull , apparently

3481-411: Was provided by Hamilton who, in the days before his ultimately fatal gun duel with Aaron Burr , provided his lawyer with a list detailing the author of each number. This list credited Hamilton with a full 63 of the essays (three of those being jointly written with Madison), almost three-quarters of the whole, and was used as the basis for an 1810 printing that was the first to make specific attribution for

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