Intro-Fed Papers

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay (an historical note)
February 18, 1995

In 1776 the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence which declared that the 13 British Colonies in North America were joining in a Union of Independent States, to be known as the United States of America. The document by which the new nation proposed to govern itself was known as The Articles of Confederation.

The purpose of any document that proposes to constitute the law by which a society freely governs itself, is to insure that the document simultaniously provides the government with sufficient power to govern, but insufficient to oppress. By 1785 it became clear that the Articles of Confederation had only half succeeded. The government had insufficient power to oppress which was desired, but did not have sufficient power to govern.

So in 1787 the individual States mandated their delegates to meet in order to review and amend the Articles of Confederation, to correct the perceived problem. However instead of simply amending the Articles the delegates decided there was a need to replace the entire Articles of Confederation with a new and better approach, which they incorporated in a new document called the US Constitution. The approach they took went far beyond the mandate they were given. In addition the State of New York was opposed to the new Constitution. For the Constitution to become law each of the 13 States would have to vote for ratification.

In order to persuade the voters of the State of New York to ratify the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), James Madison (1751-1836), the father of the Constitution, and John Jay (1745-1829), who became the first chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, wrote a series of 85 newspaper articles under the Federalist banner which they signed under the shared pseudonym "PUBLIUS". The efforts of these men resulted in The Federalist Papers which is an authoritative analysis of the Constitution of the United States and an enduring classic of political philosophy ranking in historical importance behind only the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself.

Some 25 times longer than the Constitution itself, The Federalist Papers takes the reader through the logical thought process that explained and justified the specific details of the US Constitution. When questions arise as to any aspect, interpretation or meaning of the Constitution, it is to the Federalist Papers, even today, that we first turn for guidance.