ONLINE! The Federalist Papers

A group of luminaries met at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) during the oppressively hot summer of 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation to remove some of its principal shortcomings. In the end, however, they drafted a complete revision which to some appeared to be entirely too radical. Thus began one of the most extensive exercises in salesmanship, the effort to convince the skeptical new Americans of the value of this document. Written primarily by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, these 85 papers argue in favor of adopting the new Constitution. At this period just before our next presidential election, we will read and discuss the most important ones which shaped our governmental structure.