USA > United States

Federalist Papers

The Federalist papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay during 1787 and 1788. They were published in the Independent Journal, a semi-weekly [ny:newyork] newspaper. Hamilton wrote most of them. The combined papers were later published in a book, "The Federalist."

In the papers, the authors argued that the Constitution of the United States should be ratified because, although not perfect, it would create a strong federal government that would respect states' right through the checks and balances it contained.