The Federalist Papers (1787–1788): Hamilton, Madison and Jay

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay under the pen name Publius, published in New York between October 1787 and August 1788. Their aim was to persuade New Yorkers to ratify the newly drafted United States Constitution. Collected as The Federalist, they became the most famous commentary on the Constitution and a classic of political thought.

Background: the ratification struggle in New York

The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia finished its work on 17 September 1787. The proposed Constitution now had to be approved by ratifying conventions in at least nine of the thirteen states. Within days, newspapers across the country were filled with arguments for and against it.

New York was a critical state. It was large, wealthy and strategically placed between New England and the rest of the country, and its powerful governor, George Clinton, was suspicious of a strong national government. Essays opposing the Constitution soon appeared in New York papers under names such as Cato and Brutus, warning that the new system would destroy the independence of the states and endanger individual liberty.

Alexander Hamilton, a New York delegate to the convention, decided to answer them with a systematic defence of the Constitution. He recruited John Jay, the Confederation’s secretary for foreign affairs, and James Madison of Virginia, who was then in New York as a member of the Confederation Congress. Hamilton also approached others, including William Duer and Gouverneur Morris, but none of their work was used.

Publication

The first essay, by Hamilton, appeared in the Independent Journal on 27 October 1787. The essays were also printed in other New York newspapers, including the New York Packet and the Daily Advertiser, often several times a week. Each was addressed “To the People of the State of New York” and signed Publius, a name taken from Publius Valerius Publicola, a founder of the Roman Republic.

The pace was demanding. Madison later recalled that essays were sometimes sent to the printer as fast as they could be written, with little time for revision. In March 1788 the publishers John and Archibald McLean issued the first 36 essays as a book, The Federalist. A second volume followed in May 1788 and contained the remaining essays, Nos. 78 to 85, which appeared there before they were printed in the newspapers. The last newspaper instalment ran in August 1788.

Who wrote what

Hamilton wrote the majority of the essays, 51 by the standard modern count. Madison wrote 29, and Jay, who fell ill early in the project, wrote five: Nos. 2 to 5 and No. 64. Madison returned to Virginia in March 1788 to take part in that state’s ratifying convention, leaving Hamilton to complete the series.

The authorship of twelve essays (Nos. 49 to 58, 62 and 63) was long disputed, because both Hamilton and Madison later left lists claiming them. In a well-known statistical study published in 1964, Frederick Mosteller and David Wallace compared the authors’ habits of word use and concluded that Madison very probably wrote all twelve. Most historians accept that attribution, while noting that the authors shared ideas and sometimes collaborated.

The main arguments

The essays follow a plan announced in No. 1. The early papers, largely by Jay and Hamilton, argue that a strong union is necessary to protect Americans against foreign powers and to prevent conflict among the states. Hamilton then describes the failures of the Articles of Confederation, especially Congress’s inability to raise money or enforce its decisions.

The middle essays explain the design of the new government. In No. 10, Madison argues that a large republic is the best cure for faction, because the many interests in an extensive country make it hard for any single majority to oppress others. In No. 51 he explains how separation of powers and checks and balances keep each branch within its limits, observing that “ambition must be made to counteract ambition”.

Hamilton’s later essays deal with the executive and the courts. In No. 70 he argues for a single, energetic president rather than an executive council. In No. 78 he describes the judiciary as the least dangerous branch, because it controls neither money nor force, and defends the power of the courts to treat laws that conflict with the Constitution as void, a principle later known as judicial review.

The debate over a bill of rights

One of the strongest Anti-Federalist objections was that the Constitution lacked a bill of rights. In No. 84 Hamilton argued that such a list was unnecessary in a government of limited, enumerated powers, and might even be dangerous, because listing some rights could imply that others were unprotected.

This argument did not satisfy many critics. Several states ratified while recommending amendments, and Madison himself came to support a bill of rights as a way of reassuring opponents. In 1789 he introduced the amendments in Congress that became the Bill of Rights.

Influence on ratification

The direct influence of the essays on voters is hard to measure. They were long, closely argued and reprinted only occasionally outside New York, and the Anti-Federalists won a large majority of seats in the elections for New York’s ratifying convention, which met at Poughkeepsie in June 1788.

By the time the convention voted, ten states had already ratified, and the new government was going ahead with or without New York. Hamilton and other Federalist delegates drew on the arguments of The Federalist in debate, and on 26 July 1788 the convention approved the Constitution by 30 votes to 27, recommending a series of amendments.

Legacy

The Federalist soon gained a reputation far beyond its immediate purpose. Thomas Jefferson praised it in a letter to Madison in 1788 as one of the best works on the principles of government ever written. It was translated into French in 1792 and later into many other languages.

Because two of its authors were leading framers, the essays are widely treated as evidence of what the Constitution was intended to mean. The US Supreme Court has cited them in hundreds of opinions, beginning in the early nineteenth century. Federalist Nos. 10 and 51 in particular are standard texts in courses on political science and constitutional law.

The authors’ later careers added to the work’s prestige. Jay became the first Chief Justice of the United States, Hamilton the first Secretary of the Treasury and Madison the fourth president. Their political paths also diverged sharply in the 1790s, when Madison joined Jefferson in opposing Hamilton’s financial programme.

Timeline

• 1787, 17 September: The Philadelphia Convention signs the proposed Constitution.
• 1787, 27 October: Federalist No. 1 appears in the Independent Journal.
• 1787, 22 November: Madison’s Federalist No. 10 is published.
• 1788, March: The first volume of The Federalist is published by J. and A. McLean.
• 1788, May: The second volume appears, including essays 78 to 85.
• 1788, 17 June: New York’s ratifying convention opens at Poughkeepsie.
• 1788, 26 July: New York ratifies the Constitution by 30 votes to 27.
• 1788, August: The last essays appear in the newspapers.

Why it matters

The Federalist Papers turned a campaign for votes into an enduring explanation of American constitutional government. They remain a key guide to the framers’ thinking on federalism, representation and the separation of powers, and continue to shape how the Constitution is interpreted.