The Federalist Papers Written By John Jay, And Alexander Hamilton

Kaylin Konobeck

The Federalist, also known as The Federalist Papers, are a series of eighty-five documents written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. These documents were written and displayed in various newspapers in an effort to get voters to formally accept the

United States Constitution. The Federalist was eventually published in a book in 1788. The purpose of the ratification of the United States Constitution was to ultimately replace the failed

Articles of Confederation. There was a large amount of controversy surrounding the documents and the principles that the constitution held. The controversy was later settled when the new system of checks and balances on government was defined and an emphasis on the protection of

An example of the Federalist’s relevance today is its’ principle regarding wealth. Wealth is often times the dividing factor of class. Paper # 10 of The Federalist Papers states, “But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society.” (Hill, The Federalist Papers, Paper #10, p.1) This statement still holds true in today's society. Many people see the ownership and distribution of property as a separation in class. The common translation between property and wealth is that one must have a certain amount of monetary value in order to purchase property, therefore, many view property and those who own property as wealthy.

Another principle that is largely seen in today’s society is the system of checks and balances on government power. The Federalist Papers states, “In a free government the security

Kaylin Konobeck for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects. The degree of security

The United States’ government checks and balances system is referred to in Paper #51 in the following statement: “It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.” (The Federalist Papers,

Paper #51, p.3) This means that the government and people must protect themselves not only from overpowered rulers, but also in groups within society who are overpowering another. "In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."(The Federalist Papers, Paper #51, p.2) This is another reference to the checks and balances system in the United States. Basically, this states that the people (of whom are being governed) must be under control by laws, policies, and law enforcement. Only after this is done, one must ensure that the power of the government is dispersed evenly throughout, so