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The Federalist Papers: History, Writers & Summary

Lesson Transcript

The Federalist Papers were a collection of political essays from the 18th century written by several Founding
Fathers of the United States. In this lesson, we'll learn more about the Federalist Papers and why they are still
important today.

Birth of the Constitution

Remember back in middle school history class, when you learned about the Constitution of the
United States? Everyone knows how important the Constitution is. It sets out the way our federal
government works, the basic laws and rights that all citizens have and generally shapes life in
America.

But what some people don't know is that the Constitution almost wasn't accepted. In 1781, just a
few years after the United States became a country, the states completed voting to ratify, or
approve, a document called the Articles of Confederation. This gave all the power of government
to the states.

This worked for a few years, but soon it became clear that America needed a central government
that was able to tax citizens and provide both support and cohesion to the states. A group of men,
including James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, decided to write a new document that described
a federal government for the United States. This became the Constitution of the United States.

In 1787, just six years after the Articles of Confederation was rati ed, the Constitution was sent out
to the states for approval. But the public was divided; some people were in favor of the
Constitution, while others saw it intruding upon the rights of individual states. In several states,
debate over whether the Constitution should be rati ed became heated.

Federalist Papers
New York was one of the states where the debate over the rati cation of the Constitution was in
full swing in the fall of 1787. Shortly after the Constitution was sent to the states for approval,
several essays appeared in New York newspapers arguing that New York should not ratify the
Constitution.

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In response, Hamilton, Madison and their friend, politician John Jay, decided to write a series of
articles to sway the public in favor of the Constitution. These became known as The Federalist or
The Federalist Papers.

The Federalist Papers began to appear in several New York newspapers in October of 1787, all
written under the name 'Publius.' Hamilton realized that most people against the new Constitution
were afraid that it took away power from the states and would drastically reduce their freedom. In
response, the Federalist Papers focused on explaining in greater detail each of the parts of the
Constitution and exactly what they meant. In this way, the essays served to educate as well as
persuade citizens that the Constitution should be rati ed.

Between October 1787 and May 1788, the three writers published 77 essays. Sometimes as many
as three or four essays would appear in a week, all seemingly written by one person. Because of
the volume and pace of publication, as well as the arguments, it was di cult for opponents of the
Constitution to address all of the arguments made by 'Publius' in the Federalist Papers. In July of
1788, perhaps in part due to the in uence of the Federalist Papers, New York became the 11th
state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

Publication & Credit

The Federalist Papers became so popular that they were published in two volumes in the spring of
1788. Along with the original 77 essays, the authors added eight additional essays for a total of 85.
Several other editions were published in the years that followed.

In 1792, a French edition listed the authors of the Federalist Papers as Madison, Hamilton and Jay.
This was the rst time that the three had been listed as the authors, instead of the pseudonym
'Publius.' In 1810, a new edition of the Federalist Papers was printed with the names of the authors
attached to each of the essays. For the rst time, people could see which article was written by
which man. The attributions were based on a list that Hamilton gave to the publisher, and he took
credit for 63 of the essays himself.

In 1818, Madison provided his own list of the authors of each essay for a new edition. Madison
didn't outright accuse Hamilton of taking credit for the essays that he hadn't written, instead saying
that Hamilton might have made a mistake when writing out his list. Madison listed himself as
author on 11 essays that Hamilton had previously taken credit for.

Today, most scholars agree on the authorship of 73 of the 85 essays, though there are 12 articles
that scholars still debate the authorship of.

Importance
Some people believe that the Federalist Papers were a driving force behind the rati cation of the
Constitution by New York State. Others argue that their political in uence was not as important as
other factors, such as the public speeches of politicians or the number of states that had already

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rati ed the Constitution.

Whether or not the Federalist Papers in uenced whether or not New York rati ed the Constitution,
they have had a signi cant political in uence since. Both Madison and Hamilton were part of the
group of men who wrote the Constitution, and most of it was probably written by Madison himself.
As a result, the Federalist Papers are often used in political and civil debates because they give us
an inside view of the authors of the Constitution.

In addition, the Federalist Papers are an important piece of American literature. They are one of
the rst collections of political essays collected and published together. Many politicians and
political thinkers have since published their own political essays, a tradition that continues even to
this day.

Lesson Summary
The Federalist Papers were a collection of essays in support of the Constitution of the United
States. They were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in order to persuade
New York State to ratify the Constitution. Because they were rst published under a pseudonym,
the authorship of the individual essays is sometimes debated. Regardless of who wrote which
essay, they have had a lasting impression on both the politics and literature of America.

Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:

De ne the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution

Explain the purpose of the Federalist Papers and identify the authors

Understand why authorship of some of the Federalist essays is debated

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