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LawForKids.org LawDocs |
The foundation for law in America are a couple of important Law
Documents. Maybe you've heard of them before: the Constitution,
the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights...
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist, commonly referred to as the Federalist Papers, is a
series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James
Madison between October 1787 and May 1788. The essays were published
anonymously, under the pen name "Publius," in various New York state
newspapers of the time.
The Federalist Papers were written and published to urge New Yorkers to
ratify the proposed United States Constitution, which was drafted in
Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. In lobbying for adoption of the
Constitution over the existing Articles of Confederation, the essays
explain particular provisions of the Constitution in detail. For this
reason, and because Hamilton and Madison were each members of the
Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers are often used today
to help interpret the intentions of those drafting the Constitution.
The Federalist Papers were published primarily in two New York state
newspapers: The New York Packet and The Independent Journal. They
were reprinted in other newspapers in New York state and in several
cities in other states. A bound edition, with revisions and
corrections by Hamilton, was published in 1788 by printers J. and A.
McLean. An edition published by printer Jacob Gideon in 1818, with
revisions and corrections by Madison, was the first to identify each
essay by its author's name. Because of its publishing history, the
assignment of authorship, numbering, and exact wording may vary with
different editions of The Federalist.
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