The Very Best of the Federalist Papers

Publisher Marketing: The Federalist Papers contain some of the greatest political writing of all time. Written to New Yorkers in 1787 and 1788 to urge the ratification of the proposed new Constitution, the papers received immediate respect. They were published in book form in 1788 and had considerable influence in both the New York and Virginia ratifying conventions, serving as a source of philosophies and arguments in both those crucial states. The papers were originally composed as letters sent to and published in New York newspapers. The authors of the papers, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, wrote under the single pseudonym of Publius. By obscuring their true identities (a common approach of the time), the authors could make their arguments without any of the political baggage attached to their own names. Thomas Jefferson later wrote that The Federalist Papers were "the best commentary on the principles of government . . . ever written." Subsequent historians have agreed. For example, Clinton Rossiter wrote, "No more eloquent, tough-minded and instructive answers have ever been given by an American pen. . . . The message of The Federalist reads: no happiness without liberty, no liberty without self-government, no self-government without constitutionalism, no constitutionalism without morality-and none of these great goods without stability and order." The Federalist Papers contains cogent arguments, deep insights, and timeless political philosophies that help readers and thinkers of the twenty-first century more fully understand the marvelous government provided for in the Constitution of the United States of America. This edition contains the very best of the Federalist Papers, carefully selected by Jay A. Parry, author of The Real George Washington. Contributor Bio:  Hamilton, Alexander Alexander Hamilton ( 1757-1804) was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher. The chief of staff to General George Washington during the American Revolution, he was a leader of nationalist forces calling for a new Constitution; he was one of America's first Constitutional lawyers, and wrote half of the Federalist Papers, a primary source for Constitutional interpretation. He was more influential than the other three members of Washington's Cabinet, and the financial expert; the Federalist Party formed in support of his policies. Contributor Bio:  Madison, James James Neal Madison also is the painter of the lithograph, The Highland Charge at Drummossie Muir, Battle of Culloden, April 16, 1746. Published by Pelican, this vivid, full-color print is in its second edition printing. Contributor Bio:  Jay, John Review The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788. A compilation of these and eight others, called The Federalist; or, The New Constitution, was published in two volumes in 1788 by J. and A. McLean. The series' correct title is The Federalist; the title The Federalist Papers did not emerge until the twentieth century. The Federalist remains a primary source for interpretation of the U. S. Constitution. According to historian Richard B. Morris, they are an "incomparable exposition of the Constitution, a classic in political science unsurpassed in both breadth and depth by the product of any later American writer." At the time of publication, the authorship of the articles was a closely-guarded secret, though astute observers guessed that Hamilton, Madison, and Jay were the likely authors. Following Hamilton's death in 1804, a list that he drew up became public; it claimed fully two-thirds of the essays for Hamilton, including some that seemed more likely the work of Madison (Nos. 49-58, 62, and 63). The scholarly detective work of Douglass Adair in 1944 postulated the following assignments of authorship, confirmed in 1964 by a computer analysis of the text: - Alexander Hamilton (51 articles: nos. 1, 6-9, 11-13, 15-17, 21-36, 59-61, and 65-85) - James Madison (29 articles: nos. 10, 14, 37-58 and 62-63) - John Jay (5 articles: 2-5 and 64). - Nos. 18-20 were the result of a collaboration between Madison and Hamilton.