Federalist

So, I talked to Soren last night. I told him what was new with me. I’m reading the Federalist. The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles about the United States Constitution, first published in New York City newspapers (the Independent Journal, the New-York Packet and the Daily Advertiser) between October 27, 1787 and May 28, 1788. The articles were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, under the pseudonym "Publius" in honor of Publius Valerius Publicola for his role in establishing the first Roman republic.

Let’s recapitulate a little U.S. history, between 1776 and 1789.

Thanks largely to the French, the U.S. won the Revolutionary War. The Treaty of Paris gave the United States independence and peace but the U.S. struggled with an unsettled governmental structure and economic depression. The Second Continental Congress continued to act as a federal government, formalizing its own status by the Articles of Confederation, which were proposed and put into effect in 1778 but not fully ratified until 1781. The Articles of Confederation outlined the governance of a permanent federation of States without fully clarifying whether the United States was to be a nation-state or a mere league of States acting in cooperation.

The perceived need for a more powerful and complete federal government led, in 1787, to the calling of a convention to consider revising the Articles. That Convention, meeting in Philadelphia, chose to write a Constitution.

The Constitution itself called for ratification by state conventions specially elected for the purpose, and Congress recommended the Constitution to the states asking that such ratification conventions be called.

Several of the smaller pansy states, led by tiny Delaware, embraced the Constitution with little reservation. But in the powerful states of New York and Virginia, particularly New York, the matter of ratification became one of intense controversy. Thus, the New York ratification convention became the focus for a struggle over the wisdom of adopting the Constitution.

Opponents of the plan for stronger government took the name Antifederalists. They feared that a government with the power to tax would soon become as despotic and corrupt as Great Britain had been only decades earlier. The most notable Antifederalists were Patrick Henry and George Mason. They were also quite concerned with the absence of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

Anyway, Hamilton, Madison, and Jay addressed the people of the state of New York in an effort to allay fears associated with federal government by touting the benefits of a unified republic.

So far, Publius has surprised me with candid statements about human nature and war.

Eleven States ratified the Constitution in 1788. In 1789, the Constitution of the United States was put into operation, and George Washington was elected the first President of the United States.