In honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, we recall the pivotal events that shaped American history.
The United States originally emerged as a confederation of thirteen states. The path by which this alliance evolved into today’s federal system was complex and arduous.
Written in 1787–1788, The Federalist Papers consist of 85 essays that, through careful analysis, promoted the proposed Constitution of 1787, republican government, and the federal system. The essays were published under the pseudonym Publius.
At the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Continental Congress of representatives of the thirteen states adopted the “Articles of Confederation,” a document that functioned as a kind of constitution. Under the Articles, the states were treated as sovereign entities. The powers of the Confederation included foreign policy, defense, coinage of money, and the requisitioning of funds from the member states. In Congress, to which the states delegated certain legislative and executive powers, each state had one vote. There was no office of president, nor was there a federal supreme court. Numerous thinkers pointed to the weaknesses of the confederal structure: the danger of conflicts among the states, internal rebellions, the fact that some states printed their own currency, and the reality that foreign nations often underestimated the Confederation and refused to extend loans.
A group of leading statesmen believed that the shortcomings of the confederal system had to be remedied. Among them were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and others.
On May 25, 1787, the Philadelphia Convention convened with the purpose of addressing the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation and undertaking their revision. The Convention was presided over by George Washington, then a delegate from Virginia. A prominent participant was Edmund Randolph, the Governor of Virginia at the time. During the Convention, the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and Hamilton’s eleven-point plan were presented. A form of compromise between the first two proposals emerged in the Connecticut Plan, advanced by Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut. This plan provided for a bicameral legislature, with the lower house based on proportional representation and the upper house on equal representation of the states. It was adopted on July 16, 1787.
The Philadelphia Convention effectively transformed itself into a Constitutional Convention, which concluded on September 17, 1787, with the signing of the proposed Constitution of the United States. Of the 55 delegates, 39 signed the document. For example, Virginia Governor Randolph declined to sign, believing that the proposed Constitution did not sufficiently safeguard individual rights and liberties.
Ratification of the Constitution required approval by two-thirds of the states, that is, nine of the thirteen. The primary purpose of The Federalist Papers was to influence public opinion and persuade state representatives to ratify the Constitution.
The project originated as an idea of Alexander Hamilton, a delegate from New York and later the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. He was joined by James Madison, a delegate from Virginia and member of its legislature, later the fourth President of the United States, and John Jay, who at the time served as Secretary for Foreign Affairs. After the adoption of the Constitution, Jay became the first Chief Justice of the United States. As previously noted, all of the essays were signed under the shared pseudonym Publius.
Upon publication, the work received praise from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Somewhat later, its value was also recognized by thinkers such as Alexis de Tocqueville and John Stuart Mill.
Many writers and political figures of the era understood that more than one author stood behind The Federalist Papers. Interestingly, the French public became aware of the identity of the three authors before the American public, and the authors were even granted French citizenship.
It is highly likely that the essays contributed to the eventual ratification of the Constitution by the state of New York, which became the eleventh state to approve it.
The ideas set forth in The Federalist Papers represent a significant contribution to both theory and practice. One of their central arguments is the necessity of a stronger, yet limited, federal government. The authors advocated a federal system in which powers are divided between the national government and the states.
Equally important is the theory of factions, elaborated by James Madison. He argued that economic and political divisions are inevitable in any society and rejected the possibility of eliminating them without endangering liberty. In his view, the solution lies in an extended republic, where the dominance of a single faction over the whole becomes unlikely.
The principle of the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances also constitute a crucial element of The Federalist Papers.
The Federalist Papers have made a lasting contribution to constitutional theory and transcend the historical moment in which they were written. The United States stands as a model of functional federalism worthy of study, one that has attracted and continues to attract the attention of numerous theorists and practitioners. Accordingly, 250 years after the founding of the American state, this collection of essays remains a symbol of the intellectual foundation upon which the modern constitutional order of the United States was built.
