The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers

These papers mark a moment in history when debates raged, passions ran wild, and the United States constitution was eventually ratified by the entire union. The Federalist Papers include all 85 articles that advocated to have the United States constitution ratified. The driving forces of the constitution (and authors of the papers) were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.

The arguments against ratification appeared in various forms, by various authors, most of whom used a pseudonym. Collectively, these writings have become known as the Anti-Federalist Papers. They contain warnings of dangers from tyranny that weaknesses in the proposed Constitution did not adequately provide against, including the absence of a Bill of Rights.