Introduction

In the summer of 1787 the Philadelphia Convention drafted the United States Constitution, but it had to be ratified by the states, and in New York the opposition was loud. From that October, Hamilton, Madison and Jay, writing as 'Publius', published eighty-five essays in New York newspapers, explaining the new Constitution clause by clause and arguing for a strong federal government. The most famous are Madison's Nos. 10 and 51: the first argues that in a large republic the many factions check one another and so prevent the tyranny of the majority; the second sets out the separation of powers and checks and balances: 'Ambition must be made to counteract ambition', and 'If men were angels, no government would be necessary.' The collection is the most important classic of American political thought. This volume translates its most important papers.