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1Federalist Papers

By Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison

The Federalist Papers (correctly known as The Federalist) are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. 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, was published in 1788 by J. and A. M’Lean. The Federalist Papers serve as a primary source for interpretation of the Constitution, as they outline the philosophy and motivation of the proposed system of government.The authors of the Federalist Papers wanted to both influence the vote in favor of ratification and shape future interpretations of the Constitution. According to historian Richard 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." (Summary by Wikipedia)

“The Federalist Papers” are a collection of 85 linked essays that explain the construction of the U.S. government and why it was built that way. The Papers are regarded as the best pipeline into understanding the U.S. Constitution and the founding principles of the government it would establish. <br><br> I have endeavored here to present these essays, not as articles in a newspaper, but as you might have experienced them if you had sat in a comfortable tavern with a tankard in hand, and listened while these ardent men ranged in front of a friendly fireplace as they attempted to convince you of their arguments. <br><br> Following the Revolutionary War, the newly-independent United States of America were organized under the Articles of Confederation. This well-intentioned document was faulty to the purpose, and the new nation rapidly found itself in dire financial distress. <br><br> Consequently, in 1787 a Constitutional Convention was called to produce a new blueprint for the government. After completion, that plan was sent to the States in September of that year for ratification, but it immediately came under fire for the powers it granted to the central government. <br><br> In New York, views on either side were heated. To persuade the public to support the Constitution for ratification, Alexander Hamilton (who had been a delegate to the Convention) and John Jay (who had helped negotiate the treaty with Great Britain that ended the War), began a series of anonymous essays to educate the citizenry in how the government would be arranged, and why those choices had been made. Later, when Jay was rendered unable to continue by an attack of rheumatism, Virginian James Madison (another Convention delegate who was in New York, serving in the Confederation Congress) was recruited to fill in. <br><br> Each wrote essays that were signed “Publius,” the name of a general who had helped to found Rome, to conceal their identities, which might have led to difficulties as Hamilton and Madison had been inside the deliberations at the Convention. These essays were published serially in New York newspapers, eventually reaching the total of 85. (Summary by Mark Smith)

I began to look over sundry of my old manuscripts... [and] among them I found a number of lectures which I had delivered more than forty-eight years ago. They proved to be on the Female "Biography of the Old and New Testament Scriptures"; and were occasioned, at the time, by my reflecting on the importance of female character, and on the influence which women must naturally and necessarily have, in every condition, period, and relation in life; so that if good should be done to them, good would be done to many, in a very wide and varied degree. But I was also aware of the difficulty and delicacy of addressing women from the pulpit distinctively. With regard to them, praise, though deserved, might seem flattery; while just reproof might be construed into common-place reflection on the sex. But in commenting on absent characters, indelibly portrayed ages back, I saw that a preacher might feel himself unfettered ; and be able to deal freely with female excellencies and faults, leaving the application to the consciences and the discretion of his present audience.<br><br>These lectures I delivered on Sabbath evenings, from short notes; but afterwards, as soon as possible, while the subjects were fresh in my recollection, I wrote them at full length, or nearly so. - Summary by Preface

The principal part of family religion is prayer, every morning and evening, and reading some portion of Scripture: and this is so necessary to keep alive a sense of God and religion in the minds of men that where it is neglected, I do not see how any family can, in reason be esteemed a family of Christians, or, indeed, have any religion at all. - Summary by Title Page