The Federalist Papers

Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757-1804)

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Genres

• Essay/Short nonfiction
• Fiction
• History
• Non-fiction
• Politics

Summary

In order to promote the ratification of the United States Constitution in the late 1780s, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Hay wrote a series of 85 articles and essays explaining their reasons to support the constitution. Most of these articles were published in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet and they later became known as “The Federalist Papers.” In reading the articles, one will encounter very interesting issues like Hamilton’s opposition to including the Bill of Rights in the Constitution and why he thinks a Union is better than a Confederation. He opposed the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution because he thought that people would later interpret it as the only rights guaranteed to the people. He also supported the formation of the Union largely because of the economic benefit it would have to the states. “The Federalist Papers” aren't just a series of articles that history students read. Their contents have been used as a reference in many US Supreme Court decisions which make this book still very influential today.