The Federalist

The Federalist, title given to a series of 85 essays, collected and edited by the American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and published in two volumes in 1788. Seventy-seven of the essays had been originally published in the New York City newspaper The Independent Journal between October 17, 1787, and April 12, 1788, to refute the arguments of those opposing ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The essays at first bore the signature “A Citizen of New York” and later the pen name Publius. Most of them were written by Hamilton; a number were the work of the statesman James Madison and others were by the jurist John Jay. The authors appealed to the desire for law and order created by Shays' Rebellion, contending that anarchy would ensue if the government were not centralized. They directed their most effective argument to the members of the rising commercial class, assuring them that commerce would flourish best under the protection of a strong federal government. The essays, widely circulated in pamphlet form, were largely responsible for the ratification of the Constitution by New York State in 1788. The Federalist is considered a brilliant set of essays on political theory, and the U.S. Supreme Court has, in controversial cases, often referred to them for incisive and authoritative interpretations of the Constitution.