The Federalist

Federalist papers

Eighty-five essays on the proposed Constitution of the United States and the nature of republican government, published in 1787 – 88 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in an effort to persuade voters of New York state to support ratification. Most of the essays first appeared serially in New York newspapers; they were reprinted in other states and then published as a book in 1788. A few of the essays were issued separately later. All were signed "Publius." They presented a masterly exposition of the federal system and the means of attaining the ideals of justice, general welfare, and the rights of individuals.

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The Federalist

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America's most significant political treatise, The Federalist Papers have assumed a special place in legal scholarship. Originally written as eighty‐five essays under the pseudonym “Publius,” the essays were published in New York City newspapers between 27 October 1787 and 28 May 1788. The early essays were reprinted widely in newspapers and the entire series was published in two volumes in March and May 1788. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were the principal authors, while John Jay wrote five essays.

The Federalist was published to persuade the people of New York to elect delegates who would ratify the proposed Constitution in the forthcoming state convention. Publius attempted to clarify and justify various provisions of the Constitution and to explain why other provisions, such as a bill of rights, had been omitted. Americans, Publius argued, had a rare opportunity to create their own form of government through reason and choice rather than relying on chance or force, which had dictated previous constitutions. Demonstrating the necessity of union and the insufficiency of the Articles of Confederation, Publius showed that the Constitution created a republican form of government that was strong, but that was restrained by checks and balances. This government would safeguard liberty and property and restore respect for America abroad.

Though two‐thirds of the delegates elected to the New York convention opposed an unamended Constitution, Publius provided the raw material from which other political writers and orators drew. While responding to specific Antifederalist arguments, The Federalist also offered a unified conceptualization of the principles upon which the new Constitution rested. This philosophical underpinning, based on history, recent experience, and reason, demonstrated why this republican government could survive, where so many others had failed.

Refuting the strongly held belief, often attributed to Montesquieu, that republics could survive only in small territories occupied by homogeneous populations, Madison in number 10 argued that republics could thrive best in large territories where many diverse factions continually vied with each other. Occasionally factions would unite in favor of specific policies, but these coalitions would be short‐lived. Through the persistent struggles of these factions, the liberty of both majorities and minorities would be maintained. The enlarged republic would also provide better leadership by enlarging the pool of qualified individuals from which each representative would be chosen.

The three branches of the federal government were to be separate, each serving as a check upon the other. Although not totally separate, the viability of each branch was guaranteed by giving it sufficient power to defend itself against the actions of the other branches. Furthermore, when any branch overstepped its constitutionally defined role, the other branches could act to check the abuse.

Publius also contended that the new Constitution safeguarded liberty by allocating power between the central and state governments. This new American federalism established spheres of power and some concurrent powers for each level of government. Publius maintained that the Constitution created a central government with limited powers. The powers of Congress and the president were specified. All other powers were implicitly left to the states or to the people. If representatives violated their mandate, the people could replace them through the frequent and free elections guaranteed by the Constitution. If the president or the federal judiciary violated their trust, Congress could impeach and, upon conviction, remove them from office.

Since its first appearance, The Federalist has assumed an honored place in American jurisprudence. Scholars, lawyers, and jurists have cited it as an authority. Too often, however, Publius has been taken at face value without an understanding of the context of the original debate over the ratification of the Constitution. Knowledge of this contemporary debate reveals that Publius was sometimes bested by his opponents; that the views espoused by Publius sometimes differed from the arguments made by Hamilton and Madison in the Constitutional Convention; and that a large portion of the American people and the delegates to the state ratifying conventions did not agree with The Federalist. Nevertheless, from the beginning of government under the Constitution, Americans have relied on The Federalist as the most authoritative source for understanding the intent of the framers (see Original Intent).

Bibliography

Jacob E. Cooke, ed., The Federalist (1961).
John P. Kaminski and Richard Leffler, eds., The Response to The Federalist (1990)

— John P. Kaminski

Oxford Dictionary of Politics:

The Federalist Papers

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A series of newspaper articles appearing over the pseudonym Publius in New York city newspapers between 2 October 1787 and 16 August 1788. Most of these 85 articles were written by either Alexander Hamilton or James Madison, with a handful by John Jay. The purpose of these writings was to make the case for the ratification of the United States Constitution that had been formulated during the summer of 1787. The Federalist Papers remains a volume of great significance constantly cited by lawyers, scholars, and commentators seeking to comprehend the meaning of the various clauses of the Constitution. The papers address some of the key problems that arise from attempting to establish liberal democratic government in a vast and diverse society. Topics covered include the nature of representative government, the separation of powers, federalism, pluralism, and judicial review. Among the more important papers can be included numbers 10, 51, 70, and 78.

— David Mervin

Oxford Guide to the US Government:

The Federalist

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The Federalist, a collection of 85 papers, or essays, was written to explain and support ratification of the Constitution of 1787. Seventy-seven essays were first printed in New York City newspapers between October 27, 1787, and April 2, 1788. The complete set of 85 essays was published in May 1788 by McLean and Company of New York City.

Alexander Hamilton, the major author of The Federalist, wrote 51 of the 85 papers (Nos. 1, 6–9,11–13, 15–17, 21–36, 59–61, and 65–85). James Madison wrote 29 essays (Nos. 10, 14, 18–20, 37–58, and 62–63). Illness forced John Jay to withdraw from the project, and he wrote only five essays (Nos. 2–5 and 64). Each paper was signed with the pseudonym Publius, after Publius Valerius Publicola, a great defender of the Roman Republic of ancient times.

The first objective of The Federalist was to persuade the people of New York to ratify the Constitution; each paper was addressed “To the People of the State of New York” and published first in a New York newspaper. A second objective was to influence Americans in all 13 states to approve the Constitution.

The authors submerged their political differences in the overall pursuit of a common goal—ratification of the Constitution. Madison and Jay agreed with Hamilton that the Constitution was “a compromise of… many dissimilar interests and inclinations.” It did not exactly reflect the ideas on government of any one of the coauthors, but they agreed that it was the best frame of government achievable under the circumstances and far superior to the Articles of Confederation under which the country had functioned since 1781.

After ratification of the Constitution and formation of the federal government, Madison joined Thomas Jefferson in political clashes with Hamilton that led to the establishment of rival political parties: Federalist (Hamilton) versus Democratic-Republican (Jefferson/Madison). These conflicts, however, lay ahead. In 1787–88, Madison and Hamilton were a formidable team in defense of the Constitution.

Hamilton, Madison, and Jay readily agreed on the name of their projected series of essays, The Federalist. With this name, they scored a public relations victory against their opponents, who accepted by default the name of Anti-Federalists. This negative label connoted only opposition, with no constructive ideas to improve the government.

The authors of The Federalist agreed on certain fundamental principles of constitutional government: republicanism, federalism, separation of powers, and free government.

A republican government is one “in which the scheme of representation takes place” (The Federalist No. 10). It is based on the consent of the governed because power is delegated to a small number of citizens who are elected by the rest of the citizens.

In a federal republic, power is divided between a general (federal) government and several state governments. Two levels of government, each supreme in its own sphere, can exercise powers separately and directly on the people. But state governments can neither ignore nor contradict federal statutes that conform to the supreme law, the Constitution. This conception of federalism departed from traditional forms of government, known today as confederations, in which states retained full sovereignty over their internal affairs.

Publius proclaims in The Federalist No. 47: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands… may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” So the Constitution provides for a separation of governmental powers among three branches, according to function. But this separation of powers is not complete. Each branch has various constitutional means to participate in the affairs of the other branches, to check and balance their powers, and to prevent one branch of the government from dominating the others.

Republicanism, federalism, and separation of powers are all characteristics of free government. According to The Federalist, free government is popular government, limited by the supreme law of the Constitution, established to protect the security, liberty, and property of individuals. A free government is powerful enough to provide protection against external and internal threats and limited enough to prevent tyranny in any form. In particular, free government is designed to guard against the most insidious danger of government by the people—the tyranny of the majority over minorities. This principle applies equally to constitutional protection of religious, ethnic, racial, or other minority groups.

Since its publication in 1788, The Federalist has been viewed as an extraordinary work about the principles and practice of constitutional government. The Federalist is “the best commentary on the principles of government which ever was written,” wrote Thomas Jefferson to James Madison (Nov. 18, 1788). Chief Justice John Marshall agreed in this instance with Jefferson, his longtime political opponent. In Mc-Culloch v. Maryland (1819), John Marshall wrote that The Federalist was “entitled to great respect [by courts] expounding the Constitution.” Moreover, he wrote in Cohens v. Virginia (1821): “[The Federalist] is a complete commentary on our Constitution, and it is appealed to by all parties in the questions to which that instrument gave birth.” Ever since the founding period, lawyers, judges, politicians, and scholars have used The Federalist to guide their decisions about issues of constitutional government.

Sources

George Carey, The Federalist: Design for a Constitutional Republic (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989).
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist, edited by Jacob E. Cooke (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1961)

Gale Encyclopedia of US History:

Federalist Papers

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On 27 October 1787, the first essay of The Federalist, written under the pen name Publius, appeared in a New York City newspaper. Its author was Alexander Hamilton, who conceived the project of publishing an extended series of essays to support the ratification of the newly proposed Federal Constitution. Hamilton recruited two other prominent leaders as his co-authors: John Jay and James Madison. Together, they published seventy-seven newspaper essays by April 1788, and another eight appeared in the second volume of the first book edition. Hamilton is credited with writing fifty-one essays, Madison twenty-nine, and Jay, weakened by illness, just five. All three authors drew upon their extensive experience in national politics and the military and diplomatic struggle for independence. The two main authors also played critical roles in the maneuvers leading to the Federal Convention and the drafting of the Constitution, and they also founded the rival schools of constitutional interpretation that developed after it took effect. As a result, The Federalist has long been regarded as the most authoritative exposition of the original meaning of the Constitution, and the leading American contribution to Western political thought.

The division of assignments allowed the authors to tap their particular strengths. Hamilton, the more ardent nationalist, had seven years of service in the Continental Army, mostly as aide-de-camp to General Washington; he was also a close student of public finance and a successful attorney. It was therefore fitting that he wrote the essays emphasizing the necessity for an effective national union with adequate powers over national defense and revenue, as well as those examining the executive and judiciary. Madison's experience was primarily legislative; he was more engaged with basic questions of political theory, and more concerned than Hamilton with balancing the authority of the Union and the states. It was equally fitting, then, that he wrote the leading essays on Congress and federalism, as well as addressing anti-Federalist objections that the Constitution violated fundamental maxims of free government.

Two of those maxims were closely associated with one of the most celebrated works of eighteenth-century political science, Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws. One of these maxims argued that republican government could safely operate only in small, homogeneous societies where the citizens shared similar interests and the virtue to subordinate private interest to public good. The other held that liberty depended upon a rigid separation of both the functions and personnel of the different departments of government. Madison challenged these propositions in two famous essays. "Federalist 10" argued that liberty would be more secure in a large, diverse republic, where "factious majorities" would find it more difficult to gain control of the government. "Federalist 51" concluded a series of essays on the separation of powers by arguing that the task of maintaining equilibrium among the departments required giving the members of each branch the incentives and means to protect their constitutional powers. Hamilton's best-known essay is "Federalist 78," which offered an early defense of the theory of judicial review, enabling courts to measure legislative and executive acts against constitutional standards.

Bibliography

Adair, Douglass. "The Tenth Federalist Revisited." William and Mary Quarterly, 3d ser., 8 (1951): 48–67.

———. "'That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science': David Hume, James Madison, and the Tenth Federalist." Huntington Library Quarterly, 20 (1957): 343–360.

Cooke, Jacob, ed. The Federalist. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1961.

Epstein, David F. The Political Theory of The Federalist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.

Furtwangler, Albert. The Authority of Publius: A Reading of the Federalist Papers. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1984.

Kesler, Charles R. ed. Saving the Revolution: The Federalist Papers and the American Founding. New York: Free Press, 1987.

—Jack Rakove

Columbia Encyclopedia:

The Federalist

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Federalist, The, series of 85 political essays, sometimes called The Federalist Papers, written 1787-88 under the pseudonym "Publius." Alexander Hamilton initiated the series with the immediate intention of persuading New York to approve the Federalist Constitution. He had as collaborators James Madison and John Jay. Hamilton certainly wrote 51 of the essays, Madison wrote 14, Jay 5; the authorship of 15 is in dispute (as between Hamilton and Madison). The essays were widely read as they appeared, and all except the last 8 were first printed in New York newspapers; the last 8 were first included in a two-volume edition of all the essays in 1788 and were then reprinted in the newspapers. Although the essays had little impact on the debate to ratify the Constitution, they are still considered a classic work of political theory. The authors expounded at length upon the fundamental problems of republican government, and argued that federalism offered a means of both preserving state sovereignty and safeguarding the individual's freedom from tyrannical rule. Many editions of the papers have been published and much has been written about them, a great deal of it devoted to determining authorship. For one edition of the papers see J. E. Cooke, ed., The Federalist (1961).

Bibliography

See study by G. Dietze (1960).

West's Encyclopedia of American Law:

Federalist Papers

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A collection of eighty-five essays by Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), James Madison (1751-1836), and John Jay (1745-1829) that explain the philosophy and defend the advantages of the U.S. Constitution.

The essays that constitute The Federalist Papers were published in various New York newspapers between October 27, 1787, and August 16, 1788, and appeared in book form in March and May 1788. They remain important statements of U.S. political and legal philosophy as well as a key source for understanding the U.S. Constitution.

The Federalist Papers originated in a contentious debate over ratification of the U.S. Constitution. After its completion by the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787, the Constitution required ratification by nine states before it could become effective. A group known as the Federalists favored passage of the Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists opposed it.

To secure its ratification in New York State, Federalists Hamilton, Madison, and Jay published the Federalist essays under the pseudonym Publius, a name taken from Publius Valerius Poplicola, a leading politician of the ancient Roman republic. Their purpose was to clarify and explain the provisions of the Constitution, expounding its benefits over the existing system of government under the Articles of Confederation.

Hamilton, a New Yorker who served as treasury secretary under President George Washington from 1789 to 1795, was the principal architect of The Federalist Papers. Hamilton conceived the idea for the book and enlisted the aid of Madison and Jay. He is thought to have written fifty-one of the essays: numbers 1, 6-9, 11-13, 15-17, 21-36, 59-61, and 65-85. Madison, who served two terms as the president of the United States, from 1809 to 1817, probably authored twenty-six of the papers: 10, 14, 37-58, and 62-63. Madison and Hamilton probably wrote papers 18-20 together. Jay, who sat as the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, from 1789 to 1795, wrote five essays: 2-5 and 64.

The essays presented a number of arguments with great importance for the founding of the U.S. government. They forcefully made the case for a strong union between the states (numbers 1-14); the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation (15-22); the advantages of a strong, or "energetic," central government (23-36); and a republican government's ability to provide political stability as well as liberty (35-51). The later essays examined the roles of the three branches of government — the legislative (52-66), the executive (67-77), and the judicial (78-83) — as well as the issue of a bill of rights (84). The last essay consists of a closing summary (85). In making their arguments, the authors also discussed the benefits of federalism, under which the state and federal governments would each have a distinct sphere of power.

Several of the essays have been especially influential in U.S. political history and philosophy. The most famous, Federalist, no. 10, by Madison, concerns the dangers and remedies of factionalism for a republican government. Madison, seeking a "republican remedy for the diseases most incident to republican government," argued that a large republic of the kind envisioned by the Constitution will be less likely to fall victim to disputes between different factions than will a small republic. Here and in essay 51, Madison claimed that the diversity, or "plurality," of interests that exist in a large commercial republic will prevent any one faction from uniting to deprive the rights of a smaller faction.

The essays on the role of the federal judiciary have had a lasting influence on U.S. law. Essay 78 contains an important defense of the principle of judicial review, the power that allows the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down laws passed by Congress. In number 80, Hamilton argued for the establishment of a system of federal courts separate from state courts, an idea that was realized several years later.

See: Constitution of the United States.

Historical Documents of the United States:

The Federalist Papers

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The Federalist Papers were a series of articles written under the pen name of Publius by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Their purpose was to gain popular support for the yet to be written Constitution.

Federalist Paper No. 1	Federalist Paper No. 30	Federalist Paper No. 58
Federalist Paper No. 2	Federalist Paper No. 31	Federalist Paper No. 59
Federalist Paper No. 3	Federalist Paper No. 32	Federalist Paper No. 60
Federalist Paper No. 4	Federalist Paper No. 33	Federalist Paper No. 61
Federalist Paper No. 5	Federalist Paper No. 34	Federalist Paper No. 62
Federalist Paper No. 6	Federalist Paper No. 35	Federalist Paper No. 63
Federalist Paper No. 7	Federalist Paper No. 36	Federalist Paper No. 64
Federalist Paper No. 8	Federalist Paper No. 37	Federalist Paper No. 65
Federalist Paper No. 9	Federalist Paper No. 38	Federalist Paper No. 66
Federalist Paper No. 10	Federalist Paper No. 39	Federalist Paper No. 67
Federalist Paper No. 11	Federalist Paper No. 40	Federalist Paper No. 68
Federalist Paper No. 12	Federalist Paper No. 41	Federalist Paper No. 69
Federalist Paper No. 13	Federalist Paper No. 42	Federalist Paper No. 70
Federalist Paper No. 14	Federalist Paper No. 43	Federalist Paper No. 71
Federalist Paper No. 15	Federalist Paper No. 44	Federalist Paper No. 72
Federalist Paper No. 16	Federalist Paper No. 45	Federalist Paper No. 73
Federalist Paper No. 17	Federalist Paper No. 46	Federalist Paper No. 74
Federalist Paper No. 18	Federalist Paper No. 47	Federalist Paper No. 75
Federalist Paper No. 19	Federalist Paper No. 48	Federalist Paper No. 76
Federalist Paper No. 20	Federalist Paper No. 49	Federalist Paper No. 77
Federalist Paper No. 21	Federalist Paper No. 50	Federalist Paper No. 78
Federalist Paper No. 22	Federalist Paper No. 51	Federalist Paper No. 79
Federalist Paper No. 23	Federalist Paper No. 52	Federalist Paper No. 80
Federalist Paper No. 24	Federalist Paper No. 53	Federalist Paper No. 81
Federalist Paper No. 25	Federalist Paper No. 54	Federalist Paper No. 82
Federalist Paper No. 26	Federalist Paper No. 55	Federalist Paper No. 83
Federalist Paper No. 27	Federalist Paper No. 56	Federalist Paper No. 84
Federalist Paper No. 28	Federalist Paper No. 57	Federalist Paper No. 85
Federalist Paper No. 29

Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: History:

The Federalist Papers

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A series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in the late 1780s to persuade the voters of New York to adopt the Constitution. The essays are considered a classic defense of the American system of government, as well as a classic practical application of political principles.

Politics Q&A:

What are the Federalist Papers?

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The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788, urging ratification of the Constitution. Because the Constitution sought to increase the power of the national government at the expense of the state governments, the national debate over ratification began almost immediately after the Philadelphia Convention sent the proposed constitution to Congress on September 10, 1787, and its contents became known. Late in September, the New York Independent Journal began printing a series of Anti-Federalist essays by “Cato” (who may have been New York’s powerful governor, George Clinton). In order to refute these and other Anti-Federalist tracts, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, two of New York’s most prominent Federalists, agreed to write a series of newspaper essays under the name “Publius.” The first (The Federalist No. 1), written by Hamilton, appeared in the New York Independent Journal on October 27, and in it Hamilton outlined the purpose of the entire series. The essays would explain the necessity of the union for “political prosperity,” the “insufficiency of the present Confederation to preserve that Union,” and the need for a more “energetic” government than that which existed under the Articles of Confederation. John Jay wrote the next four installments before ill health forced him to quit. In November, James Madison, who was in New York representing Virginia in Congress, took Jay’s place, and between them Madison and Hamilton produced all but one of the remaining eighty essays; Jay wrote No. 64.

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Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Federalist Papers

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Title page of the first printing of the Federalist Papers (1788)

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788. A compilation of these and eight others, called The Federalist; or, The New Constitution, was published in two volumes in 1788 by J. and A. McLean.^[1] The series' correct title is The Federalist; the title The Federalist Papers did not emerge until the twentieth century.

The authors of The Federalist wanted both to influence the vote in favor of ratification and to shape future interpretations of the Constitution.

However, the authors of the Federalist papers also had a greater plan in mind. According to Federalist 1:

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.^[2]

According to historian Richard B. Morris, they are an "incomparable exposition of the Constitution, a classic in political science unsurpassed in both breadth and depth by the product of any later American writer."^[3]

At the time of publication, the authorship of the articles was a closely guarded secret, though astute observers guessed that Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay were the likely authors. Following Hamilton's death in 1804, a list that he drew up became public; it claimed fully two-thirds of the essays for Hamilton, including some that seemed more likely the work of Madison (Nos. 49-58, 62, and 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:

Alexander Hamilton (51 articles: nos. 1, 6–9, 11–13, 15–17, 21–36, 59–61, and 65–85)
James Madison (26 articles: nos. 10, 14, 37–58 and 62–63)
John Jay (5 articles: 2–5 and 64).
Nos. 18–20 were the result of a collaboration between Madison and Hamilton.^[1]

The authors used the pseudonym "Publius", in honor of Roman consul Publius Valerius Publicola.^[4] While some historians credit Thomas Jefferson's influence, it is Madison who often now receives greater foundational credit as the father of the Constitution despite his repeated rejection of the honor during his lifetime.^{[citation needed]} Madison became 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.^[5] Hamilton, who had been a leading advocate of national constitutional reform throughout the 1780s and represented New York at the Constitutional Convention, in 1789 became the first Secretary of the Treasury, a post he held until his resignation in 1795. 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, a post he held for two terms, retiring in 1801.

There are many highlights among the essays of The Federalist. Federalist No. 10, in which Madison discusses the means of preventing rule by majority faction and advocates a large, commercial republic, is generally regarded as the most important of the 85 articles from a philosophical perspective; it 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.^[6] In Federalist No. 84, Hamilton makes 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 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 a memorable essay often quoted for its justification of government as "the greatest of all reflections on human nature."

Contents

1 History
2 Structure and content
- 2.1 Opposition to the Bill of Rights
3 Modern approaches and interpretations
- 3.1 Judicial use
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

History

Origins

Alexander Hamilton, author of the majority of the Federalist Papers

The Federal Convention sent the proposed Constitution to the Confederation Congress, which at the end of September 1787 submitted it to the states for ratification. Immediately, the Constitution became the target of many articles and public letters written by opponents of the Constitution. For instance, the important Anti-Federalist authors "Cato" and "Brutus" debuted in New York papers on September 27 and October 18, 1787, respectively.^[7] Hamilton decided to launch a measured and extensive defense and explanation of the proposed Constitution as a response to the opponents of ratification, addressing 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."^[8]

Hamilton recruited collaborators for the project. He enlisted John Jay, who after four strong essays (Federalist Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5), fell ill and contributed only one more essay, Federalist No. 64, to the series; though he wrote a pamphlet in the spring of 1788, An Address to the People of the State of New-York, that made his distilled case for the Constitution (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 major collaborator. Gouverneur Morris and William Duer were also apparently considered; Morris turned down the invitation, and Hamilton rejected three essays written by Duer.^[9] Duer later wrote in support of the three Federalist authors under the name "Philo-Publius", or "Friend of Publius".

Hamilton chose "Publius" as the pseudonym under which the series would be written. While many other pieces representing both sides of the constitutional debate were written under Roman names, Albert Furtwangler contends that "'Publius' was a cut above 'Caesar' or 'Brutus' or even 'Cato.' Publius Valerius was not a late defender of the republic but one of its founders. His more famous name, Publicola, meant 'friend of the people.'"^[4] It was not the first time Hamilton had used this pseudonym: in 1778, he had applied it to three letters attacking Samuel Chase.

Publication

An advertisement for The Federalist

The Federalist Papers appeared in three New York newspapers: the Independent Journal, the New-York Packet, and the Daily Advertiser, beginning on October 27, 1787. Between them, Hamilton, Madison and Jay kept up a rapid pace, with at times three or four new essays by Publius appearing in the papers in a week. Garry Wills observes that the pace of production "overwhelmed" any possible response: "Who, given ample time could have answered such a battery of arguments? And no time was given."^[10] Hamilton also encouraged the reprinting of the essay in newspapers outside New York state, and indeed they were published in several other states where 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.^[11]

The high demand for the essays led to their publication in a more permanent form. On January 1, 1788, the New York publishing firm J. & A. McLean announced that they would publish the first thirty-six essays as a bound volume; that volume was released on March 2 and was titled The Federalist. 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 containing the last forty-nine essays was released on May 28. The remaining eight papers were later published in the newspapers as well.^[12]

A number of later publications are worth noting. A 1792 French edition ended the collective anonymity of Publius, announcing that the work had been written by "MM Hamilton, Maddisson E Gay", citizens of the State of New York. In 1802, George Hopkins published an American edition that similarly named 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.^[13]

James Madison, Hamilton's major collaborator, later President of the United States and "Father of the Constitution"

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 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.^[14]

Both Hopkins's and Gideon's editions incorporated significant edits to the text of the papers themselves, generally with the approval of the authors. In 1863, Henry Dawson published an edition containing the original text of the papers, see The Federalist (Dawson), arguing that they should be preserved as they were written in that particular historical moment, not as edited by the authors years later.^[15]

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 the McLean edition for essay numbers 77–85.^[16]

Disputed essays

Influence on the ratification debates

The Federalist was written to support the ratification of the Constitution, specifically in New York. Whether they succeeded in this mission 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 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.^[21] 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; 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."^[22]

As for Virginia, which only ratified the Constitution 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 a "dubious distinction."^[23] 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.

Another purpose that The Federalist was supposed to serve was as a debater's handbook during the ratification controversy, and indeed advocates for the Constitution in the conventions in New York and Virginia used the essays for precisely that purpose.

Structure and content

In Federalist No. 1, Hamilton listed six topics to be covered in the subsequent articles:

"The utility of the UNION to your political prosperity" – covered in No. 2 through No. 14
"The insufficiency of the present Confederation to preserve that Union"—covered in No. 15 through No. 22
"The necessity of a government at least equally energetic with the one proposed to the attainment of this object"—covered in No. 23 through No. 36
"The conformity of the proposed constitution to the true principles of republican government"—covered in No. 37 through No. 84
"Its analogy to your own state constitution"—covered in No. 85
"The additional security which its adoption will afford to the preservation of that species of government, to liberty and to prosperity"—covered in No. 85.^[24]

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; the first twenty papers are broken down as eleven 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: No. 21 through No. 36 by Hamilton, No. 36 through 58 by Madison, written while Hamilton was in Albany, and No. 65 through the end by Hamilton, published after Madison had left for Virginia.^[25]

Opposition to the Bill of Rights

The Federalist Papers (specifically Federalist No. 84) are notable for their opposition to what later became 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 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. Other supporters of the Bill, such as Thomas Jefferson, argued that a list of rights would not and should not be interpreted as exhaustive; i.e., that these rights were examples of important rights that people had, but that people had other rights as well. People in this school of thought were confident that the judiciary would interpret these rights in an expansive fashion. The matter was further clarified by the Ninth Amendment.

Modern approaches and interpretations

Judicial use

Federal judges, when interpreting the Constitution, frequently use the Federalist Papers as a contemporary account of the intentions of the framers and ratifiers.^[26] 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 the first decision to mention The Federalist).^[27] By 2000^[update], The Federalist had been quoted 291 times in Supreme Court decisions.^[28]

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 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."^[29] Madison believed The Federalist Papers were the ideas of the Founders and not just mere expressions. In a letter he wrote in 1821, he stated "the legitimate meaning of 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." ^[30]^[31]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Jackson, Kenneth T. The Encyclopedia of New York City: The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. p. 194.
^ The Federalist Papers. Toronto: Bantam Books. 1982.
^ Richard B. Morris, The Forging of the Union: 1781-1789 (1987) p. 309
^ ^a ^b Furtwangler, 51.
^ See, e.g. Ralph Ketcham, James Madison. New York: Macmillan, 1971; reprint ed., Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998. See also Irving N. Brant, James Madison: Father of the Constitution, 1787–1800. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1950.
^ Wills, x.
^ Furtwangler, 48-49.
^ Gunn, Giles B. (1994). Early American Writing. Penguin Classics. pp. 540. ISBN 0140390871. http://books.google.com/?id=OlphD37HAY4C.
^ Furtwangler, 51-56.
^ Wills, xii.
^ Furtwangler, 20.
^ The Federalist timeline at www.sparknotes.com.
^ Adair, 40-41.
^ Adair, 44-46.
^ Henry Cabot Lodge, ed. (1902). The Federalist, a Commentary on the Constitution of the United States. Putnam. pp. xxxviii–xliii. http://books.google.com/?id=9S-HAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
^ Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison (Jacob E. Cooke, ed., The Federalist (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1961 and later reprintings). ISBN 978-0-8195-6077-3.
^ Adair, 46-48.
^ Adair, 48.
^ Mosteller and Wallace.
^ Fung, Glenn, The disputed federalist papers: SVM feature selection via concave minimization, New York City, ACM Press, 2003. (9 pg pdf file)
^ Furtwangler, 21.
^ Furtwangler, 22.
^ Furtwangler, 23.
^ This scheme of division is adapted from Charles K. Kesler's introduction to The Federalist Papers (New York: Signet Classic, 1999) pp. 15-17. A similar division is indicated by Furtwangler, 57-58.
^ Wills, 274.
^ Lupu, Ira C.; "The Most-Cited Federalist Papers". Constitutional Commentary (1998) pp 403+; using Supreme Court citations, the five most cited were Federalist No. 42 (Madison) (33 decisions), Federalist No. 78 (Hamilton) (30 decisions), Federalist No. 81 (Hamilton) (27 decisions), Federalist No. 51 (Madison) (26 decisions), Federalist No. 32 (Hamilton) (25 decisions).
^ See, among others, a very early exploration of the judicial use of The Federalist in Charles W. Pierson, "The Federalist in the Supreme Court", The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 33, No. 7. (May, 1924), pp. 728-735.
^ Chernow, Ron. "Alexander Hamilton". Penguin Books, 2004. (p. 260)
^ Arthur, John (1995). Words That Bind: Judicial Review and the Grounds of Modern Constitutional Theory. Westview Press. pp. 41. ISBN 0813323495. http://books.google.com/?id=UZu-fuHdnNwC.
^ Madison to Thomas Ritchie, September 15, 1821. Quoted in Furtwangler, 36.
^ Max Farrand, ed. (1911). The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Yale University Press. http://books.google.com/?id=4VQSAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22the+legitimate+meaning+of+the+Instrument+must+be+derived+from+the+text+itself%22.

References

Adair, Douglass. Fame and the Founding Fathers. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1974. A collection of essays; that used here is "The Disputed Federalist Papers".
Frederick Mosteller and David L. Wallace. Inference and Disputed Authorship: The Federalist. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass., 1964.
Furtwangler, Albert. The Authority of Publius: A Reading of the Federalist Papers. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1984.
Wills, Gary. Explaining America: The Federalist, Garden City, NJ: 1981.

External links

Quotations related to The Federalist at Wikiquote Works related to The Federalist Papers at Wikisource

Federalist Papers public domain audiobook from LibriVox
Federalist Papers at Project Gutenberg
Federalist Papers on the Bill of Rights
Teaching the Federalist Papers
Booknotes interview with Robert Scigliano on The Federalist Papers, January 21, 2001.

v d e Federalist Papers

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Related topics: Anti-Federalist Papers

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