1787 - 1788 the federalist essay
The Federalist essays have been printed more frequently than any other work of Hamilton. They have, nevertheless, been reprinted in these volumes because no edition of his writings which omitted his most important contribution to political thought could be considered definitive. The essays written by John Jay and James Madison, however, have not been included. They are available in many editions, and they do not, after all, properly belong in the writings of Alexander Hamilton. During the last week in September and the first weeks of October, , the pages of New York newspapers were filled with articles denouncing the Constitution. The decision to publish a series of essays defending the Constitution and explaining in detail its provisions was made by Alexander Hamilton.
The Federalist Papers (1787-1789)
The Federalist essays have been printed more frequently than any other work of Hamilton. They have, nevertheless, been reprinted in these volumes because no edition of his writings which omitted his most important contribution to political thought could be considered definitive.
The essays written by John Jay and James Madison, however, have not been included. They are available in many editions, and they do not, after all, properly belong in the writings of Alexander Hamilton. During the last week in September and the first weeks of October, , the pages of New York newspapers were filled with articles denouncing the Constitution. The decision to publish a series of essays defending the Constitution and explaining in detail its provisions was made by Alexander Hamilton.
Both the reasons for his decision and the date on which he conceived the project are conjecturable. Having gone to Albany early in October to attend the fall session of the Supreme Court, he was not in New York City during the early weeks of the controversy over the Constitution. His decision to write the essays may have been made before he left Albany, for according to tradition he wrote the first number of The Federalist in the cabin of his sloop on the return trip to New York.
Jay in carrying it into effect. William Duer was also included in the original plan; and wrote two or more papers, which though intelligent and sprightly, were not continued, nor did they make a part of the printed collection.
In reprinting the text of The Federalist the original manuscripts have been approximated as nearly as possible. As the first printing of each essay, despite typographical errors, was presumably closest to the original, the text published in this edition is that which was first printed.
The texts of those essays among the first seventy-seven which were written by Hamilton or are of doubtful authorship are taken from the newspapers in which they first appeared; the texts of essays 78—85 are taken from the first edition of The Federalist , edited by John and Archibald McLean. With the exception of the last eight numbers, all the issues of The Federalist were first printed in the newspapers of New York City.
The announced plan was not consistently followed. On Thursday, November 22, The Daily Advertiser , according to the proposed schedule, published essay 10, but after its publication no other essay appeared first in that newspaper.
McLean, The first edition, printed by J. McLean 9 and corrected by Hamilton, is the source from which most editions of The Federalist have been taken. As in the first volume, there were editorial revisions which probably were made by Hamilton.
The final eight essays, which first appeared in this volume were reprinted in The Independent Journal and in New-York Packet between June 14, , and August 16, The second American edition, printed by John Tiebout in , was not a new printing but a reissue of the remaining copies of the McLean edition with new title pages. The third American edition, published in , not only was a new printing; it also contained revisions presumably approved by Hamilton. By Publius.
Written in Revised and Corrected. George F. The whole Revised and Corrected. With new passages and notes. Although it is certain that Hamilton did not himself revise the text published in the Hopkins edition, available evidence indicates that he approved the alterations which were made.
In J. Hamilton wrote to Hopkins requesting information on the extent to which Hamilton had made or approved the revisions. Hamilton as John Wells, an eminent New York lawyer. Dawson in his edition of The Federalist contested J. According to Dawson, Hopkins declared on two different occasions in later years—once to James A. Hamilton and once to John W.
Francis—that Hamilton refused to have any changes made in the essays. Hamilton presents the more convincing evidence. Hamilton made some minor changes in essays written by Jay and Madison—changes which in the McLean edition they presumably authorized. Jay never revised the essays he wrote, and it was not until that Madison authorized the publication of an edition which included his own corrections of his essays. This edition was published by Jacob Gideon, 16 a printer in Washington, D.
In the present edition, as stated above, the texts of essays 1—77 have been taken from the newspapers in which they first appeared; the texts of essays 78—85 are from volume two of the McLean edition. All changes which Hamilton later made or approved in the texts of the essays he wrote have been indicated in notes.
In essays 78—85 all the changes which appeared in the Hopkins edition are noted. When an obvious typographical error appears in the text taken from the newspaper, it has been corrected without annotation. When a dash is used at the end of a sentence, a period has been substituted. Because of changes made in the McLean edition, the numbering of certain essays presents an editorial problem. It also was concluded, probably because of its unusual length, that the essay which appeared in the newspapers as essay 31 should be divided and published as two essays.
When these changes were made, the original numbering of essays 29—36 was changed in the following way:. Essays 36—78 in the McLean edition thus were one number higher than the number given the corresponding essay in the newspaper. Because McLean changed the numbers of some of the essays, later editors have questioned whether there were 84 or 85 essays. This is understandable, for there were only 84 essays printed in the newspapers, the essays 32 and 33 by McLean having appeared in the press as a single essay.
The last essay printed in The Independent Journal accordingly was numbered Later editions of The Federalist , except for that published by Henry B. Dawson, have followed the numbering of the McLean edition. Since no possible purpose would be served and some confusion might result by restoring the newspaper numbering, the essays in the present edition have been given the numbers used by McLean in , and the newspaper number has been placed in brackets.
Almost a century and a half of controversy has centered on the authorship of certain numbers of The Federalist.
Similar to most other eighteenth-century newspaper contributors, the authors of The Federalist chose to write anonymously. Friends of Hamilton and Madison, and perhaps those of Jay, certainly knew that this was a joint enterprise and who the authors were.
In , George F. The evidence on the authorship of several of the essays is contradictory because both Hamilton and Madison made, or allegedly made, several lists in which they claimed authorship of the same essays. It is neither necessary nor instructive to discuss the minor discrepancies found in the claims by the two men in their respective lists. Despite contrary claims in several of the least credible lists published during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, it has long been accepted that Hamilton wrote essays 1, 6—9, 11—13, 15—17, 21—36, 59—61, and 65—85; that Madison was the author of essays 10, 14, 37—48; and that Jay contributed essays 2—5 and The number of disputed essays can be reduced by examining the reliability of the several Madison and Hamilton lists.
There are four reputed Madison lists: 1. Despite statements by his partisans, there are only three Hamilton lists that merit the serious attention of the historian who applies any known tests for evaluating historical evidence. The Benson list, according to a story first related by William Coleman in March, , was left by Hamilton, shortly before his death, between the pages of a book in the library of his long-time friend, Judge Egbert Benson.
As Hamilton conversed with the law clerk, he idly handled one of the volumes on the shelves in the office. The memorandum was presumably stolen in The existence of the Benson list was corroborated by two witnesses, Robert Benson and William Coleman.
Coleman, editor of New-York Evening Post , is the less credible authority; he may have seen the Benson list, but it is significant that he never definitely stated that he did.
The most emphatic statement that he made, elicited by the demands for proof made by an antagonist in a newspaper controversy over the authorship of The Federalist , was as follows:. The statement of Robert Benson, the law clerk to whom Hamilton spoke on the day before his encounter with Burr, is more convincing, but it was made many years after the event, and it is far from being conclusive.
The General in his usual manner then went to the book case and took down a book which he opened and soon replaced, and left the office. He subsequently removed it, and, as I understand , gave it to some public library. The Benson list is suspect, then, because the claim for its authenticity is based on the evidence of two men neither of whom stated that he actually saw it. JAY and Mr. While the numbers claimed by Hamilton in the Benson list and in his own copy of The Federalist are the same, the list by Chancellor James Kent disagrees in several particulars from the other two.
However familiar one is with the handwriting of another, it is difficult to determine if a single numeral is in his writing. But despite the impossibility of positive identification, a close comparison of numerals made by Hamilton with the numerals which were added to the Kent list strongly indicates that the changes are in the writing of Hamilton. The ink clearly reveals that the three notes were made at different times.
Hamilton told me. Underneath this clipping Kent wrote:. I suspect therefore from internal Ev. A comparison of the Kent list for those essays claimed by Hamilton with the Gideon edition for those essays claimed by Madison makes it clear that there is room for doubt only over the authorship of essays 18, 19, 20, 50, 51, 52, 54—58, and 62— On the margin of his copy of The Federalist opposite number 18 Madison wrote:.
H and Mr. What had been prepared by Mr. H who had entered more briefly into the subject, was left with Mr. M on its appearing that the latter was engaged in it, with larger materials, and with a view to a more precise delineation; and from the pen of the latter, the several papers went to the Press.
The problem of determining the authorship of these three essays is merely one of deciding on the comparative contributions of the two men. Although there are several sentences which are very similar to remarks Hamilton recorded in the outline for his speech of June 18, , on the Constitution, most of the material was undoubtedly supplied by Madison who without doubt wrote these essays. Essay 20, for example, is virtually a copy of notes which Madison had taken in preparation for the Constitutional Convention.
Internal evidence has proved to be of little assistance in determining the authorship of The Federalist. The ablest studies in this field are those by Edward G.
Bourne 34 and J. Hamilton asserts that they were written by his father. Bourne and J.
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays arguing in support of the United Packet, and The Daily Advertiser between October of and August In October , the first in a series of 85 essays arguing for ratification of Madison's famous Federalist 10, appeared in book form in
When Hamilton returned to New York, an fervent anti-constitution movement was operating, fueled by Lansing's and Yates' alarmist stories from the convention. Local papers vehemently denounced the convention's plan, some of which included snide personal attacks on Hamilton. The pro-constitution rebuttals were scattershot and inadequate in Hamilton's view, so he wrote a defense of his own. While commuting up the Hudson on a boat, he began writing, under the pseudonym of Publius, a systematic, objective analysis of the constitution which was to become the first in a monumental series of essays he entitled the Federalist. The name of the collection of essays was also to become the name of the pro-consitution movement, and later, Hamilton's political party.
The document had to be ratified by at least nine of the thirteen states, as stipulated in the agreed-upon ratification process.
On October 27, , the first of the Federalist Papers is published in support of the newly signed Constitution. Though the members of the Constitutional Convention had already approved the document as of September 17, , it could not go into effect until at least nine states ratified it.
A Biography of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804)
In October , the first in a series of 85 essays arguing for ratification of the proposed U. They would be published serially from in several New York newspapers. Entitled The Federalist , it has been hailed as one of the most important political documents in U. As the first written constitution of the newly independent United States, the Articles of Confederation nominally granted Congress the power to conduct foreign policy, maintain armed forces and coin money. In May , 55 delegates gathered in Philadelphia to address the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation and the problems that had arisen from this weakened central government. The document that emerged from the Constitutional Convention went far beyond amending the Articles, however.
The Federalist
The collection was commonly known as The Federalist until the name The Federalist Papers emerged in the 20th century. The original plan was to write a total of 25 essays, the work divided evenly among the three men. In the end they wrote 85 essays in the span of six months. Jay wrote five, Madison wrote 29, Hamilton wrote the remaining McLean in March and May The authors of The Federalist intended to influence the voters to ratify the Constitution. In Federalist No. It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not, of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend, for their political constitutions, on accident and force. Federalist No. In it, Madison discusses the means of preventing rule by majority faction and advocates a large, commercial republic.
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The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays arguing in support of the United States Constitution. Alexander Hamilton , James Madison , and John Jay were the authors behind the pieces, and the three men wrote collectively under the name of Publius.
Federalist papers
Federalist papers , formally The Federalist , series of 85 essays on the proposed new Constitution of the United States and on the nature of republican government , published between and by Alexander Hamilton , James Madison , and John Jay in an effort to persuade New York state voters to support ratification. Seventy-seven of the essays first appeared serially in New York newspapers, were reprinted in most other states, and were published in book form as The Federalist on May 28, ; the remaining eight essays appeared in New York newspapers between June 14 and August 16, However, computer analysis and historical evidence has led nearly all historians to assign authorship in the following manner: Hamilton wrote numbers 1, 6—9, 11—13, 15—17, 21—36, 59—61, and 65—85; Madison, numbers 10, 14, 18—20, 37—58, and 62—63; and Jay, numbers 2—5 and The authors of the Federalist papers presented a masterly defense of the new federal system and of the major departments in the proposed central government. As a general treatise on republican government, the Federalist papers are distinguished for their comprehensive analysis of the means by which the ideals of justice , the general welfare , and the rights of individuals could be realized. The establishment of a republican form of government would not of itself provide protection against such characteristics: the representatives of the people might betray their trust; one segment of the population might oppress another; and both the representatives and the public might give way to passion or caprice. The possibility of good government, they argued, lay in the crafting of political institutions that would compensate for deficiencies in both reason and virtue in the ordinary conduct of politics. This theme was predominant in late 18th-century political thought in America and accounts in part for the elaborate system of checks and balances that was devised in the Constitution. The authors of the Federalist papers argued against the decentralization of political authority under the Articles of Confederation. They worried, for example, that national commercial interests suffered from intransigent economic conflicts between states and that federal weakness undermined American diplomatic efforts abroad. The authors were also critical of the power assumed by state legislatures under the Articles of Confederation—and of the characters of the people serving in those assemblies. Unlike most Americans of the period, who typically worried about the conspiracies of the elite few against the liberties of the people, the authors were concerned about tyrannical legislative majorities threatening the rights of propertied minorities.
Introductory Note: The Federalist, [27 October 1787–28 May 1788]
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