James Madison

The Federalist Papers James Madison

In 1787, the US Constitution was sent to the state legislatures for ratification. Intended to replace the Articles of Confederation, the new Constitution replaced the loose confederation of states with a strong Federal central government to which the states would be subordinated. The Federalist Papers were written by some of the authors of the Constitution, as a series of letters to New York newspapers, explaining how the proposed Constitution would work and why the state legislatures should vote for its ratification.