The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John Jay

Soon after the American colonies declared their Independence from Britain, the "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union" were drafted to serve as the bonding document between the newly formed United States. But the confederation was weak, which necessitated the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America.

The Constitutional Convention was a heated affair, with great and learned debate about how the new constitution should be structured. Once drafted, at least nine state legislatures had to ratify it. Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, in an effort to persuade the voters of New York and other states of the importance of ratification, wrote a series of papers explaining and defending the new constitution.

To this day, The Federalist Papers, written under the pseudonym "Publius," remain the most definitive resource for legal and historic scholars in search of the original intent of our Constitution.

No.	Title	Author
1.	General Introduction	Hamilton
2.	Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence	Jay
3.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence	Jay
4.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence	Jay
5.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Foreign Force and Influence	Jay
6.	Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States	Hamilton
7.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning Dangers from Dissensions Between the States	Hamilton
8.	The Consequences of Hostilities Between the States	Hamilton
9.	The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection	Hamilton
10.	The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection	Madison
11.	The Utility of the Union in Respect to Commercial Relations and a Navy	Hamilton
12.	The Utility of the Union in Respect to Revenue	Hamilton
13.	Advantage of the Union in Respect to Economy in Government	Hamilton
14.	Objections to the Proposed Constitution from Extent of Territory Answered	Madison
15.	The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union	Hamilton
16.	The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union	Hamilton
17.	The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union	Hamilton
18.	The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union	Hamilton and Madison
19.	The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union	Hamilton and Madison
20.	The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union	Hamilton and Madison
21.	Other Defects of the Present Confederation	Hamilton
22.	The Same Subject Continued: Other Defects of the Present Confederation	Hamilton
23.	The Necessity of a Government as Energetic as the One Proposed to the Preservation of the Union	Hamilton
24.	The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered	Hamilton
25.	The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered	Hamilton
26.	The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered	Hamilton
27.	The Same Subject Continued: The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered	Hamilton
28.	The Same Subject Continued: The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered	Hamilton
29.	Concerning the Militia	Hamilton
30.	Concerning the General Power of Taxation	Hamilton
31.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation	Hamilton
32.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation	Hamilton
33.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation	Hamilton
34.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation	Hamilton
35.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation	Hamilton
36.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the General Power of Taxation	Hamilton
37.	Concerning the Difficulties of the Convention in Devising a Proper Form of Government	Madison
38.	The Same Subject Continued, and the Incoherence of the Objections to the New Plan Exposed	Madison
39.	The Conformity of the Plan to Republican Principles	Madison
40.	The Powers of the Convention to Form a Mixed Government Examined and Sustained	Madison
41.	General View of the Powers Conferred by the Constitution	Madison
42.	The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered	Madison
43.	The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered	Madison
44.	Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States	Madison
45.	The Alleged Danger From the Powers of the Union to the State Governments Considered	Madison
46.	The Influence of the State and Federal Governments Compared	Madison
47.	The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among Its Different Parts	Madison
48.	These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No Constitutional Control Over Each Other	Madison
49.	Method of Guarding Against the Encroachments of Any One Department of Government by Appealing to the People Through a Convention	Hamilton or Madison
50.	Periodic Appeals to the People Considered	Hamilton or Madison
51.	The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments	Hamilton or Madison
52.	The House of Representatives	Hamilton or Madison
53.	The Same Subject Continued: The House of Representatives	Hamilton or Madison
54.	The Apportionment of Members Among the States	Hamilton or Madison
55.	The Total Number of the House of Representatives	Hamilton or Madison
56.	The Same Subject Continued: The Total Number of the House of Representatives	Hamilton or Madison
57.	The Alleged Tendency of the Plan to Elevate the Few at the Expense of the Many Considered in Connection with Representation	Hamilton or Madison
58.	Objection that the Number of Members Will Not Be Augmented as the Progress of Population Demands Considered	Madison
59.	Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members	Hamilton
60.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members	Hamilton
61.	The Same Subject Continued: Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members	Hamilton
62.	The Senate	Hamilton or Madison
63.	The Senate Continued	Hamilton or Madison
64.	The Powers of the Senate	Jay
65.	The Powers of the Senate Continued	Hamilton
66.	Objections to the Power of the Senate To Set as a Court for Impeachments Further Considered	Hamilton
67.	The Executive Department	Hamilton
68.	The Mode of Electing the President	Hamilton
69.	The Real Character of the Executive	Hamilton
70.	The Executive Department Further Considered	Hamilton
71.	The Duration in Office of the Executive	Hamilton
72.	The Same Subject Continued, and Re-Eligibility of the Executive Considered	Hamilton
73.	The Provision for Support of the Executive, and the Veto Power	Hamilton
74.	The Command of the Military and Naval Forces, and the Pardoning Power of the Executive	Hamilton
75.	The Treaty Making Power of the Executive	Hamilton
76.	The Appointing Power of the Executive	Hamilton
77.	The Appointing Power Continued and Other Powers of the Executive Considered	Hamilton
78.	The Judiciary Department	Hamilton
79.	The Judiciary Continued	Hamilton
80.	The Powers of the Judiciary	Hamilton
81.	The Judiciary Continued, and the Distribution of Judicial Authority	Hamilton
82.	The Judiciary Continued	Hamilton
83.	The Judiciary Continued in Relation to Trial by Jury	Hamilton
84.	Certain General and Miscellaneous Objections to the Constitution Considered and Answered	Hamilton
85.	Concluding Remarks	Hamilton

The original text of the Federalist Papers (also known as The Federalist) was obtained from the e-text archives of Project Gutenberg. Information and Disclaimer for the Gutenberg version of The Federalist Papers.