1. The Federalist Papers Jordan LaPorta

2. The Authors • Alexander Hamilton • Lawyer • Congressman under the Articles of Confederation • Wrote fifty-one of the essays • Later the first Treasury Secretary of the United States • First Constitutional Lawyer

3. Authors • James Madison • Member of the Constitutional Convention • Principle author of the constitution • Wrote twenty-nine of the essays • Secretary of State in the Jefferson Administration • Fourth President of the United States

4. Authors • John Jay • Lawyer • Member of the first and second continental congresses • Congressmen under the AOC • Wrote five of the essays • First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

5. Purpose • Fall of 1787 the Constitution was completed and sent to the state legislatures for ratification • New York was split over the issue • Influential Governor George Clinton was attempting to persuade against ratification • The Federalist was a series of eighty-five essays urging constitutional ratification • Serialized between Oct. 1787-May 1788 in The Independent Journal • Published under the Pseudonym Publius • Stressed a stronger central government and redundancy of the BOR

6. Prominent Essays • Federalist No. 10 – Madison • The most referenced and debated of the Federalist papers • Advocates extended national republicanism to prevent demagoguery of majorities • Federalist No. 39 – Madison • Madison lays out in full the definition of what Federalism is • Federalist No. 51 – Madison • Argues for the Checks and Balances on the three branches • “Greatest reflection of all human nature”

7. Prominent Essays • Federalist No. 70 – Hamilton • The one man chief executive • Federalist No. 78 – Hamilton • The Judiciary and Judiciary Review • Federalist No. 84 – Hamilton • The BOR is unnecessary because of provisions in the original text already protect the liberty of the people

8. Relevance Today • Foremost Authority on the Constitution • Best existing defense of Federal-Republicanism • Used By Historians and judges to determine the original intent of the framers