Among the most effective of the instrumentalities which were employed in the overthrow of the royal authority within the Thirteen United Colonies of America was the public press; and in the proceeding...

The essays of the Federalist were first printed in the newspapers, and were then republished without substantial textual change in the McLean edition of 1788. In 1802, the Hopkins edition, described a...

To the People of the State of New York: After an unequivocal experience of the inefficacy of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United S...

To the People of the State of New York: When the people of America reflect that they are now called upon to decide a question, which, in its consequences, must prove one of the most important that eve...

To the People of the State of New York: It is not a new observation that the people of any country (if, like the Americans, intelligent and well-informed) seldom adopt and steadily persevere for many ...

To the People of the State of New York: My last paper assigned several reasons why the safety of the people would be best secured by union against the danger it may be exposed to by just causes of war...

To the People of the State of New York: Queen Anne, in her letter of the 1st July, 1706, to the Scotch Parliament, makes some observations on the importance of the Union then forming between England a...

To the People of the State of New York: The three last numbers of this paper have been dedicated to an enumeration of the dangers to which we should be exposed, in a state of disunion, from the arms a...

To the People of the State of New York: It is sometimes asked, with an air of seeming triumph, what inducements could the states have, if disunited, to make war upon each other? It would be a full ans...

To the People of the State of New York: Assuming it therefore as an established truth that the several states, in case of disunion, or such combinations of them as might happen to be formed out of the...

To the People of the State of New York: A firm union will be of the utmost moment to the peace and liberty of the states, as a barrier against domestic faction and insurrection. It is impossible to re...

To the People of the State of New York: Among the numerous advantages promised by a well-constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the vio...

To the People of the State of New York: The importance of the Union, in a commercial light, is one of those points about which there is least room to entertain a difference of opinion, and which has, ...

To the People of the State of New York: The effects of Union upon the commercial prosperity of the states have been sufficiently delineated. Its tendency to promote the interests of revenue will be th...

To the People of the State of New York: As connected with the subject of revenue, we may with propriety consider that of economy. The money saved from one object may be usefully applied to another, an...

To the People of the State of New York: We have seen the necessity of the Union, as our bulwark against foreign danger, as the conservator of peace among ourselves, as the guardian of our commerce and...

To the People of the State of New York: In the course of the preceding papers, I have endeavored, my fellow citizens, to place before you, in a clear and convincing light, the importance of Union to y...

To the People of the State of New York: The tendency of the principle of legislation for states, or communities, in their political capacities, as it has been exemplified by the experiment we have mad...

To the People of the State of New York: An objection, of a nature different from that which has been stated and answered, in my last address, may perhaps be likewise urged against the principle of leg...

To the People of the State of New York: Among the confederacies of antiquity, the most considerable was that of the Grecian republics, associated under the Amphictyonic council. From the best accounts...

To the People of the State of New York: The examples of ancient confederacies, cited in my last paper, have not exhausted the source of experimental instruction on this subject. There are existing ins...

To the People of the State of New York: The United Netherlands are a confederacy of republics, or rather of aristocracies of a very remarkable texture, yet confirming all the lessons derived from thos...

To the People of the State of New York: Having in the three last numbers taken a summary review of the principal circumstances and events which have depicted the genius and fate of other confederate g...

To the People of the State of New York: In addition to the defects already enumerated in the existing federal system, there are others of not less importance, which concur in rendering it altogether u...

To the People of the State of New York: The necessity of a Constitution, at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the preservation of the Union, is the point at the examination of which we...

To the People of the State of New York: To the powers proposed to be conferred upon the federal government, in respect to the creation and direction of the national forces, I have met with but one spe...

To the People of the State of New York: It may perhaps be urged that the objects enumerated in the preceding number ought to be provided for by the state governments, under the direction of the Union....

To the People of the State of New York: It was a thing hardly to be expected that in a popular revolution the minds of men should stop at that happy mean which marks the salutary boundary between powe...

To the People of the State of New York: It has been urged, in different shapes, that a Constitution of the kind proposed by the convention cannot operate without the aid of a military force to execute...

To the People of the State of New York: That there may happen cases in which the national government may be necessitated to resort to force, cannot be denied. Our own experience has corroborated the l...

To the People of the State of New York: The power of regulating the militia, and of commanding its services in times of insurrection and invasion are natural incidents to the duties of superintending ...

To the People of the State of New York: It has been already observed that the federal government ought to possess the power of providing for the support of the national forces; in which proposition wa...

To the People of the State of New York: In disquisitions of every kind, there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasonings must depend. These contain an intern...

To the People of the State of New York: Although I am of opinion that there would be no real danger of the consequences which seem to be apprehended to the state governments from a power in the Union ...

To the People of the State of New York: The residue of the argument against the provisions of the Constitution in respect to taxation is ingrafted upon the following clause.33 The last clause of the e...

To the People of the State of New York: I flatter myself it has been clearly shown in my last number that the particular states, under the proposed Constitution, would have coequal authority with the ...

To the People of the State of New York: Before we proceed to examine any other objections to an indefinite power of taxation in the Union, I shall make one general remark; which is, that if the jurisd...

To the People of the State of New York: We have seen that the result of the observations, to which the foregoing number has been principally devoted, is, that from the natural operation of the differe...

To the People of the State of New York: In reviewing the defects of the existing Confederation, and showing that they cannot be supplied by a government of less energy than that before the public, sev...

To the People of the State of New York: It is not a little remarkable that in every case reported by ancient history, in which government has been established with deliberation and consent, the task o...

To the People of the State of New York: The last paper having concluded the observations which were meant to introduce a candid survey of the plan of government reported by the convention, we now proc...

To the People of the State of New York: The second point to be examined is, whether the convention were authorized to frame and propose this mixed Constitution. The powers of the convention ought, in ...

To the People of the State of New York: The Constitution proposed by the convention may be considered under two general points of view. The first relates to the sum or quantity of power which it vests...

To the People of the State of New York: The second class of powers, lodged in the general government, consists of those which regulate the intercourse with foreign nations, to wit: to make treaties; t...

To the People of the State of New York: The fourth class comprises the following miscellaneous powers: 1. A power “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for a limited time, ...

To the People of the State of New York: A fifth class of provisions in favor of the federal authority consists of the following restrictions on the authority of the several states: 1. “No state shall ...

To the People of the State of New York: Having shown that no one of the powers transferred to the federal government is unnecessary or improper, the next question to be considered is, whether the whol...

To the People of the State of New York: Resuming the subject of the last paper, I proceed to inquire whether the federal government or the state governments will have the advantage with regard to the ...

To the People of the State of New York: Having reviewed the general form of the proposed government and the general mass of power allotted to it, I proceed to examine the particular structure of this ...

To the People of the State of New York: It was shown in the last paper that the political apothegm there examined does not require that the legislative, executive, and judiciary departments should be ...

To the People of the State of New York: The author of the Notes on the State of Virginia, quoted in the last paper, has subjoined to that valuable work the draught of a constitution, which had been pr...

To the People of the State of New York: It may be contended, perhaps, that instead of occasional appeals to the people, which are liable to the objections urged against them, periodical appeals are th...

To the People of the State of New York: To what expedient, then, shall we finally resort, for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments, as laid down in th...

To the People of the State of New York: From the more general inquiries pursued in the four last papers, I pass on to a more particular examination of the several parts of the government. I shall begi...

To the People of the State of New York: I shall here, perhaps, be reminded of a current observation, “that where annual elections end, tyranny begins.” If it be true, as has often been remarked, that ...

To the People of the State of New York: The next view which I shall take of the House of Representatives relates to the appointment of its members to the several states which is to be determined by th...

To the People of the State of New York: The number of which the House of Representatives is to consist, forms another and a very interesting point of view, under which this branch of the federal legis...

To the People of the State of New York: The second charge against the House of Representatives is, that it will be too small to possess a due knowledge of the interests of its constituents. As this ob...

To the People of the State of New York: The third charge against the House of Representatives is, that it will be taken from that class of citizens which will have least sympathy with the mass of the ...

To the People of the State of New York: The remaining charge against the House of Representatives, which I am to examine, is grounded on a supposition that the number of members will not be augmented ...

To the People of the State of New York: The natural order of the subject leads us to consider, in this place, that provision of the Constitution which authorizes the national legislature to regulate, ...

To the People of the State of New York: We have seen, that an uncontrollable power over the elections to the federal government could not, without hazard, be committed to the state legislatures. Let u...

To the People of the State of New York: The more candid opposers of the provision respecting elections, contained in the plan of the convention, when pressed in argument, will sometimes concede the pr...

To the People of the State of New York: Having examined the constitution of the House of Representatives, and answered such of the objections against it as seemed to merit notice, I enter next on the ...

To the People of the State of New York: A fifth desideratum, illustrating the utility of a senate, is the want of a due sense of national character. Without a select and stable member of the governmen...

To the People of the State of New York: It is a just and not a new observation, that enemies to particular persons, and opponents to particular measures, seldom confine their censures to such things o...

To the People of the State of New York: The remaining powers which the plan of the convention allots to the Senate, in a distinct capacity, are comprised in their participation with the executive in t...

To the People of the State of New York: A review of the principal objections that have appeared against the proposed court for the trial of impeachments, will not improbably eradicate the remains of a...

To the People of the State of New York: The constitution of the executive department of the proposed government, claims next our attention. There is hardly any part of the system which could have been...

To the People of the State of New York: The mode of appointment of the Chief Magistrate of the United States is almost the only part of the system, of any consequence, which has escaped without severe...

To the People of the State of New York: I proceed now to trace the real characters of the proposed Executive, as they are marked out in the plan of the convention. This will serve to place in a strong...

To the People of the State of New York: There is an idea, which is not without its advocates, that a vigorous Executive is inconsistent with the genius of republican government. The enlightened well-w...

To the People of the State of New York: Duration in office has been mentioned as the second requisite to the energy of the Executive authority. This has relation to two objects: to the personal firmne...

To the People of the State of New York: The administration of government, in its largest sense, comprehends all the operations of the body politic, whether legislative, executive, or judiciary; but in...

To the People of the State of New York: The third ingredient towards constituting the vigor of the executive authority, is an adequate provision for its support. It is evident that, without proper att...

To the People of the State of New York: The president of the United States is to be “commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states when called ...

To the People of the State of New York: The President is to have power, “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur.” Though...

To the People of the State of New York: The president is “to nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the ...

To the People of the State of New York: It has been mentioned as one of the advantages to be expected from the cooperation of the Senate, in the business of appointments, that it would contribute to t...

To the People of the State of New York: We proceed now to an examination of the judiciary department of the proposed government. In unfolding the defects of the existing Confederation, the utility and...

To the People of the State of New York: Next to permanency in office, nothing can contribute more to the independence of the judges than a fixed provision for their support. The remark made in relatio...

To the People of the State of New York: To judge with accuracy of the proper extent of the federal judicature, it will be necessary to consider, in the first place, what are its proper objects. It see...

To the People of the State of New York: Let us now return to the partition of the judiciary authority between different courts, and their relations to each other. “The judicial power of the United Sta...

To the People of the State of New York: The erection of a new government, whatever care or wisdom may distinguish the work, cannot fail to originate questions of intricacy and nicety; and these may, i...

To the People of the State of New York: The objection to the plan of the convention, which has met with most success in this state, and perhaps in several of the other states, is that relative to the ...

To the People of the State of New York: In the course of the foregoing review of the Constitution, I have taken notice of, and endeavored to answer most of the objections which have appeared against i...

To the People of the State of New York: According to the formal division of the subject of these papers, announced in my first number, there would appear still to remain for discussion two points: “th...

The same idea, tracing the arguments to their consequences, is held out in several of the late publications against the new Constitution. —⁠Publius ↩ Aspasia, vide Plutarch’s “Life of Pericles.” —⁠Pub...