The Federalist Papers comprise 85 essays written to support ratification of the United States Constitution.
The essays were published in New York newspapers between October 1787 and May 1788. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote them under the shared pseudonym Publius. Their goal was to explain and defend the proposed Constitution to New York readers during the ratification debate.
Hamilton wrote the largest share, producing 51 essays. Madison wrote 29, and Jay wrote 5 before illness limited his participation. The series addressed topics including the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, separation of powers, federalism, and the design of the presidency.
The Federalist Papers were persuasive political essays, not the official text of the Constitution and not a complete record of the convention’s debates. Their arguments later became influential sources for interpreting constitutional structure. The collection’s exact total, 85, is a frequently cited fact in accounts of the founding era remembered by America250.