The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers were a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, under the pen-name Publius, that appeared in New York newspapers (primarily, the Independent Journal and the New York Packet) from October 1787 to May 1788. The essays urged New York delegates to ratify the Constitution. In 1788, the essays were published in a bound volume entitled the Federalist and eventually became known as the Federalist Papers. To address fears that the Constitution would give the central government too much power and would limit individual freedom, Hamilton, Jay, and Madison analyzed the Constitution in detail and outlined the built in checks and balances meant to divide power between the three branches of government and to preserve the rights of the people and states.