Fiveable
Fiveable

Federalist Papers

Definition

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Analogy

Imagine you're trying to convince your friends to play a new board game but they're unsure about its rules. So you write detailed instructions explaining why this game is great - these instructions are like The Federalist Papers which explained why adopting US constitution was beneficial.

Related terms

Anti-Federalists: Those who opposed ratification of the Constitution because they feared it gave too much power to national government at expense of state governments.

Bill Of Rights: First ten amendments added to U.S. Constitution as result of Anti-Federalists' concerns during ratification process; these protect individual liberties against federal encroachment.

Ratification Process: The official way that an amendment is accepted or approved.

collegeable - rocket pep

Are you a college student?

  • Study guides for the entire semester

  • 200k practice questions

  • Glossary of 50k key terms - memorize important vocab



© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.


© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.