The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madisonis a collection of 85 articles and essays written byAlexander Hamilton,James Madison, andJohn Jayunder thecollective pseudonym”Publius” to promote theratificationof theUnited States Constitution. The collection was commonly known asThe Federalistuntil the nameThe Federalist Papersemerged in the 20th century.

The first 77 of these essays were published serially in theIndependent Journal, theNew York Packet, andThe Daily Advertiserbetween October 1787 and April 1788.

A compilation of these 77 essays and eight others were published in two volumes asThe Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787by publishing firm J. & A. McLean in March and May 1788.

The last eight papers (Nos. 78–85) wererepublishedin the New York newspapers between June 14 and August 16, 1788.