Federalist Papers

what were the federalist papers?

essays published in New York newspapers over course of 2 years (1787-1788)

who wrote them?

James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton

how many essays were published?

85

what name were they released under?

The authors used the pseudonym Publius; were released anonymously

what were the essays promoting?

the ratification of Constitution

what did they argue?

that a stronger central government would protect liberty better

what were critics worried about?

a national government would have too much power

federalist 10

James Madison

argued in favor of ratification of the Constitution

argued factions are a natural, yet concerning, product of freedom and asserted there are two ways to control factions: remove the cause or limit the effect

factions could be controlled better by a large republic where there are many competing factions

also argued that elected representatives from larger groups of constituents would be more competent

federalist 51

James Madison

the key to controlling the government is through sound separation of power and checks and balances within the government

legislative branch (the House and the Senate) should be the strongest branch since it most closely represents the people

federalism is also a form of checks and balances since states could check the power of the federal government