The Federalist Papers
[A] dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the forbidden appearance of zeal for the firmness and efficiency of government.The Federalist Papers #1
Some of the most important documents in American history are the Federalist Papers. But what are the Federalist Papers, and what inspired their writing?
After the clear failure of the Articles of Confederation to strengthen the union of the States, the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution. The Constitution would correct the glaring failure of the Articles of Confederation: leaving the central government so weak that it effectively had no power and, therefore, could be of no help to a states' union. Under the Constitution, there would be a powerful central government--but one which was strictly limited in the scope of its powers and once which would be internally prevented from indulging in power hoarding by rather elaborate checks and balances which deliberately played the inherent weaknesses (the human flaws) of each branch of government against the strengths of the other two. Nine states would be required to ratify the new Constitution to make it the supreme charter and law of the land. The states, therefore, were going to have to be convinced that there was no imminent danger in their giving up some of their exclusive powers and in there being a powerful central government under the new plan.
Eventually, the group of men including Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin who supported the strong central government and new Constitution came to be called the Federalists. They began publishing a series of opinion pieces in support of the new Constitution in the New York Independent Journal, with the first one published on October 27th, 1787 by Alexander Hamilton, as New York was the most undecided state on the issue of adopting a new Constitution and the most likely of all the influential states to oppose it. These 85 essays historically came to be known as the Federalist Papers. Hamilton would go on to write 50 to 52 Federalist Papers, while James Madison would pen 28 to 30 and John Jay would contribute the other five or six. All of the essays were signed "Publius" regardless of which man wrote each (Jay's contribution was diminished due to injury), which is why there is some slight disagreement among historians as to precisely how many each man wrote. The opposition the "Anti-Federalist" group, was led by George Mason, and his base of operations was indeed in New York. The Federalists were based in Philadelphia and led by Tench Coxe.
So the Federalist Papers were the embodiment of the justification for the United States adopting a powerful, but limited, central or federal government. The greatest overarching argument for this was that, under a Confederate agreement, the central government could not do its most important task of all: provide for the common defense. Trade between the states and with foreign powers was also problematic, since there was no unified currency and no recognized central standard of weights and measures; without freely flowing trade, wealth could not be grown. There was also an acknowledgement that disorganized, non-unified law enforcement efforts were the enemy, not the friend, of individual rights and freedoms. The writers' vigorous defense of and elaboration upon the meaning and intent of the Constitution make the Federalist Papers the most important source we have today for helping us accurately determine what the Founding Fathers had in mind when the Constitution was written.
The Federalist Papers argued, additionally, for: a federal government divided into three different sections; and a republican, as opposed to a democratic, government.
Some Important Passages from the Federalist Papers
"Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers. It is well worthy of consideration therefore, whether it would conduce more to the interest of the people of America that they should, to all general purposes, be one nation, under one federal government, or that they should divide themselves into separate confederacies, and give to the head of each the same kind of powers which they are advised to place in one national government." ~ Federalist Papers #2
"[Consider] the greater number of citizens and extent of territory which may be brought within the compass of republican than of democratic government; and it is this circumstance principally which renders factious combinations less to be dreaded in the former than in the latter. The smaller the society, the fewer probably will be the distinct parties and interests composing it; the fewer the distinct parties and interests, the more frequently will a majority be found of the same party; and the smaller the number of individuals composing a majority, and the smaller the compass within which they are placed, the more easily will they concert and execute their plans of oppression. Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength, and to act in unison with each other. Besides other impediments, it may be remarked that, where there is a consciousness of unjust or dishonorable purposes, communication is always checked by distrust in proportion to the number whose concurrence is necessary.
"Hence, it clearly appears, that the same advantage which a republic has over a democracy, in controlling the effects of faction, is enjoyed by a large over a small republic,--is enjoyed by the Union over the States composing it." ~ Federalist Papers #10
federalist papers