Front cover of the publication
- "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."
- — Passage from The Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers was a large collection of 85 separate essays, with articles written by Secretary Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in defense of the new U.S. Constitution. The original title of this collection was The Federalist, until the 20th century in which it began to be referred to as The Federalist Papers.
Hamilton vs. History[]
- The Federal Convention (Constitutional Convention) sent the proposed Constitution to the Confederation Congress, which in turn submitted it to the states for ratification at the end of September 1787.
- "I was chosen for the Constitutional Convention!"
- — Alexander Hamilton, "Non-Stop"
- Articles and public letters critical of the new Constitution published by the pseudonym would eventually become known as the "Anti-Federalist Papers".
- "My client needs a strong defense, you're the solution"
- — Alexander Hamilton, Non-Stop
- In response, Alexander Hamilton decided to launch a measured defense and extensive explanation of the proposed Constitution to the people of the state of New York. Hamilton recruited collaborators for the project.
- "Alexander joins forces with James Madison and John Jay to write a series of essays defending the new United States constitution entitled The Federalist papers"
- — Aaron Burr, "Non-Stop"
- He enlisted John Jay, who after four strong essays fell ill and contributed only one more essay, Federalist No. 64, to the series.
- In the play, Aaron Burr tells the audience John Jay fell ill after writing 5. In truth he fell ill after writing 4 and then wrote a 5th after recovering.
- "John Jay got sick after writing five"
- — Aaron Burr, "Non-Stop"
- James Madison, present in New York as a Virginia delegate to the Confederation Congress, was recruited by Hamilton and Jay and became Hamilton's primary collaborator.
- "James Madison wrote twenty-nine"
- — Aaron Burr, "Non-Stop"