In September of 1787, as the approved Constitution was sent to the states for ratification, a philosophical debate began within the political world. Those against the new Articles of Confederation or as we know it now, the Constitution, began to write to their allies to try to convince the American people and state legislatures not to pass the new document for various reasons.
“George Mason, the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and a delegate at the Convention wrote, ‘This Government will commence in a moderate Aristocracy,’ he predicted, and though it was impossible to tell whether ‘in its Operation’ it would produce ‘a Monarchy, or a corrupt oppressive Aristocracy,’ it would probably ‘vibrate somewhere between the two, and then terminate in one or the other.’”[1]
Many were worried about the amount of power given to the federal government and wanted the states to retain more powers under the Constitution. These members were known as the Anti-Federalists.
Others, on the opposite side of the argument, were upset that the document did not have a stronger central authority, and thought that the new Constitution would not give enough power to the federal government to keep the Union together. James Madison wrote to Thomas Jefferson, who was in Paris at the time, telling him, “that the plan, should it be adopted, will neither effectually answer its national object nor prevent the local mischiefs which everywhere excite disgust against the state governments.”[2] Although Madison was not completely satisfied with the amount of authority that the new Constitution granted the federal government, he did understand that this new Constitution was necessary to the preservation of the Union.
So, in the midst of this political discussion, three men found the Constitution so imperative to the survival of our nation, and that along with Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay wrote numerous articles to defend and promote the document. These articles were printed in weekly newspapers in an attempt to convince the people and legislatures to vote in favor of the Constitution, while also replying to articles the Anti-Federalists were writing against its approval. “The great accomplishment of The Federalist… was to show that the Constitution was coherent and republican.”[3] By explaining each part of the Constitution and the reasoning behind its make up, The Federalists were able to convince the nation of the importance of the Constitution, while also leaving behind their explanation to their posterity. Today, the Federalist Papers (the compilation of the articles from the federalists) is the greatest primary resource we have in understanding the Constitution and reasoning behind it. In them, one can truly see the genius of the writers of the Constitution and can begin to understand how and why our government is supposed to work the way it is outlined.
[1] Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. The Federalist Papers. Ed. Rossiter, Clinton and Intro. Kesler, Charles R (New York: Signet Classic, 1999), P. vii
[2] Ibid, p. Vii.
[3] Ibid, p. viii.
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