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Federalist Papers
A collection of 85 essays intended to promote the ratification of the U.S. Constitution by countering the arguments of the Anti-Federalists who were against the ratification of the Constitution. The Federalist Papers were written and published between late 1787 and early 1788. The majority of the papers were written by the Federalist Alexander Hamilton (51), while the rest were written by James Madison, a Democratic-Republican (29), and John Jay (5). The Federalist Papers illustrated the tension between Madison, who wanted a weaker central government, and Hamilton, who wanted a strong central government over the states.
The Federalist Papers were originally signed “Citizen of New York,” but the signature was changed to “Publius,” the defender of the ancient Roman republic, since one of the writers was not ...