Federalist Papers
The
Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles, first published serially in
New York City newspapers between October
1787 and August
1788. The articles were intended to explain the new
Constitution to the residents of New York and persuade them to ratify it. The articles were written by
James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton, and
John Jay, who was a
nationalist. Madison is generally credited as the father of the Constitution. Hamilton was an influential delegate at the
Constitutional Convention. John Jay would become the first
Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court.
The Federalist Papers serve as a primary source of interpretation of the Constitution. They also outline the philosophy and motivation of the proposed system of government, as it was presented by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay. The authors of the Federalist Papers were not above using the opportunity to provide their own "spin" on certain provisions of the constitution to (i) influence the vote on ratification and (ii) influence future interpretations of the provisions in question.
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