The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays arguing in support of the United States Constitution. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay were the authors behind the pieces, and the three men wrote collectively under the name of Publius.




Seventy-seven of the essays were published as a series in The Independent Journal, The New York Packet, and The Daily Advertiser between October of 1787 and August 1788. They weren’t originally known as the “Federalist Papers,” but just “The Federalist.” The final 8 were added in after.


Alexander Hamilton was the force behind the project, and was responsible for recruiting James Madison and John Jay to write with him. John Jay was the author of five of the Federalist Papers. He would later serve as Chief Justice of the United States. Jay became ill after only contributing 4 essays, and was only able to write one more before the end of the project, which explains the large gap in time between them. James Madison, Hamilton’s major collaborator, later became President of the United States and “Father of the Constitution.






Here is a link at a site that has all The Federlist Papers .