THEFEDERALISTPAPERSSTUDYGROUP
Facilitators:
[email protected],
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
BriefDiscussionofStudyGroup:
Several18thcenturydocumentsandwritings
definetheAmericanpoliticalphilosophy:the
DeclarationofIndependence,The
Constitution,andTheFederalistPapers.Of
thethreetheleastreadandunderstoodare
TheFederalistPapers.
ThePapersareintheformof85letters,dated
October1787throughMay1788,thatwere
publishedinvariousNewYorknewspapers.
Theyarepoliticalwritingswithapolitical
objective.JamesMadisonobservedthatthe
essayswereaddressedtothePeopleofNew
York“where[theConstitution]was
powerfullyopposed,andwhereitssuccess
wasdeemedofcriticalimportance.”Allofthe
PaperswerepublishedinNewYorkbutonly
portionswerepublishedinsomeoftheother
States.
AlexanderHamilton,JamesMadisonandJohn
Jaywrotethem.Eachwassigned“Publius,”a
referencetoPubliusValeriusPublicola,the
“savior”ofRomanRepublicanism.As
“anonymous”letters,theyweredesignedto
convincebythesubstanceoftheirarguments,
notbyanyinfluenceassociatedwiththe
author.
WewillreadseveralofthePapersover8
sessionsanddiscussthemwiththeGroupin
thecontextofthePREAMBLEofthe
Constitution.TheStudyGroupisnotintended
tobeall-inclusiveofthe85letters;ourintent
istogiveasenseofthescopeofthePapers,
notprovideaforumforacompleteanalysis.
TheFacilitatorswillalsoincludefor
discussiontherelevantAnti-Federalist
argumentsagainstratificationastheymay
relatetotheEssayscoveredbythem,someof
whichalsotooktheformoflettersto
newspapers.
TopicsforEachSession:
Session1WETHEPEOPLE:
TheArticlesofConfederationanditsdefects
TheConstitutionalConvention-ageneral
review
AgeneralreviewoftheratificationprocessIn
NewYork
Session2INORDERTOFORMAMORE
PERFECTUNION:FederalistPapers1,14,and
39
Session3INSUREDOMESTICTRANQUILITY:
FederalistPaper10
Session4ESTABLISHJUSTICE:Federalist
Paper51and78
Session5PROVIDEFORTHECOMMON
DEFENSE:FederalistPaper23,24,and69
Session6PROMOTETHEGENERAL
WELFARE:FederalistPaper11and22
Session7SECURETHEBLESSINGSOF
LIBERTYTOOURSELVESANDOUR
POSTERITY:FederalistPaper39
Session8MISCELANEOUSMATTERSAND
CONCLUSIONS:FederalistPapers84and85
ReadingMaterials(allareavailableonline):
TheArticlesofConfederation
TheUnitedStatesConstitution
TheFederalistPapers
TheAnti-FederalistPapers
DIGITALLY AVAILABLE READING
MATERIALS AT NUMEROUS WEB SITES:
The Articles of Confederation
The United States Constitution
The Federalist Papers
The Anti-Federalist Papers
The New York Ratification of the
Constitution:
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/ratn
y.asp
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES
ON A VARIETY OF ISSUES:
“The Federalist Papers,” Alexander
Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay,
Pacific Publishing Studio. 2009 [HARD
COPY FOR THOSE WHO DON”T WANT
TO USE THE INTERNET]
“The Articles of Confederation: An
Interpretation of the social-constitutional
history of the American Revolution 17741781,” Merrill Jensen, University of
Wisconsin Press, 1940
“The Layman’s Articles of Confederation,”
Timothy Imholt & Michael Garst, 2014
“The Men Who Invented the Constitution:
The Summer of 1787,” David O. Stewart,
Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2007
‘The Records of the Federal Convention of
1787, rev. ed.,” Max Farrand, ed, New
Haven Connecticut, 1966 [Available online
through the HathiTrust Digital Database],
with Supplement, 1987
“Ratification: The People Debate the
Constitution, 1787-1788,” Pauline Maier,
Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2010
“The Documentary History of the
Ratification of the Constitution,” Merrill
Jensen et al, Wisconsin Historical Society
Press, University of Illinois Library: LAW
LIBRARY Call number KF4502.D63-this has
all of the original sources in 26 volumes
“Notes on the Debates in the Federal
Convention of 1787,” James Madison, W.W.
Norton & Company, 1987
“Madison’s Hand: Revising the
Constitutional Convention,” Mary Sarah
Bilder, Harvard University Press, 2015…a
much more nuanced view of the “Father of
the Constitution”
“The Anti-Federalist: Writings by the
Opponents of the Constitution [an
abridgement],” edited by Herbert J Strong,
University of Chicago Press, 1985
“The Other Founders: Anti-Federalism & the
Dissenting Tradition in America, 17881828,” Saul Cornell, Omohundro Institute of
Early American History and Culture,
University of North Carolina Press, 1999
“America’s Constitution: A Biography,” Akhil
Reed Amar, Random House Trade
Paperbacks, 2005 [his brother is Dean of
the Illinois Law School]
“America’s Unwritten Constitution: The
Precedents and Principles We Live By,”
Akhil Reed Amar, Basic Book, 2001
“Interpreting the Constitution: The Debate
over Original Intent,” edited by Jack N.
Rakove, Northeastern University Press,
1990
“Liberty and Coercion: The Paradox of
American Government From the Founding
to the Present,” Gary Gerstle, Princeton
University Press, 2015
FOR THE REALLY CURIOUS:
“Magna Carta: A Very Short Introduction,”
Nicholas Vincent, Oxford University Press,
2012