The Federalist Papers

In "The Federalist Papers," three of the founding fathers brilliantly defend their revolutionary charter: the Constitution of the United States. "This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence, that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren ... should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties." So wrote John Jay, one of the revolutionary authors of "The Federalist Papers," arguing that if the United States was truly to be a single nation, its leaders would have to agree on universally binding rules of governance--in short, a constitution. In a brilliant set of essays, Jay and his colleagues Alexander Hamilton and James Madison explored in minute detail the implications of establishing a kind of rule that would engage as many citizens as possible and that would include a system of checks and balances. Their arguments proved successful in the end, and "The Federalist Papers" stand as key documents in the founding of the United States. "The Federalist Papers" are truly a classic in American history, the documents that helped shape a nation.