1787

May 1787

May 16, 1787: Z. (Pennsylvania)

August 1787

Aug 6, 1787: A Foreign Spectator I (Pennsylvania)
Aug 9, 1787: Atticus Essay I (Massachusetts)
Aug 10, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part IV (Pennsylvania)
Aug 16, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part VI (Pennsylvania)
Aug 17, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part VII (Pennsylvania)
Aug 24, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part X (Pennsylvania)

September 1787

Sept 4, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part XV (Pennsylvania)
Sept 12, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part XX (Pennsylvania)
Sept 13, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part XXI (Pennsylvania)
Sept 13, 1787: Objections to the Constitution (Virginia)
Sept 17, 1787: Benjamin Franklin Speech, Federal Convention (Constitutional Convention)
Sept 17, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part XXIII (Pennsylvania)
Sept 18, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part XXIV (Pennsylvania)
Sept 21, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part XXV (Pennsylvania)
Sept 26, 1787:Letter from Sherman and Ellsworth to the Governor of Connecticut (Connecticut)
Sept 26, 1787: An American Citizen I (Pennsylvania)
Sept 27, 1787: A Pennsylvania Farmer (Pennsylvania)
Sept 27, 1787: Cato I (New York)
Sept 28, 1787: Call for state ratifying conventions by Confederation Congress (Confederation Congress)
Sept 28, 1787: A Foreign Spectator, Part XXVIII (Pennsylvania)
Sept 28, 1787: An American Citizen II (Pennsylvania)
Sept 28, 1787: An American Citizen III (Pennsylvania)
Sept 29, 1787: Curtius No. I (New York)

October 1787

Oct 1787: An American Citizen IV (Pennsylvania)
Oct 1, 1787: Caesar I (New York)
Oct 1, 1787: Letter from Richard Henry Lee to George Mason (Virginia)
Oct 2, 1787: Foreign Spectator XXIX (Pennsylvania)
Oct 5, 1787: Centinel I (Pennsylvania)
Oct 6, 1787: Crito (Rhode Island)
Oct 8, 1787: Federal Farmer I (Virginia)
Oct 9, 1787: Federal Farmer II (Virginia)
Oct 10, 1787: Federal Farmer III (Virginia)
Oct 10, 1787: Randolph Letter, On the Federal Constitution (Virginia)
Oct 11, 1787: Cato II (New York)
Oct 12, 1787: Federal Farmer IV (Virginia)
Oct 12, 1787: An Old Whig I (Pennsylvania)
Oct 13, 1787: Federal Farmer V (Virginia)
Oct 13, 1787: Convention Essay (Massachusetts)
Oct 15, 1787: One of Four Thousand (Pennsylvania)
Oct 17, 1787: Connecticut calls for state convention (Connecticut)
Oct 17, 1787: A Democratic Federalist (Pennsylvania)
Oct 17, 1787: Caesar II (New York)
Oct 17, 1787: An Old Whig II (Pennsylvania)
Oct 17, 1787: A Citizen of America by Noah Webster (Pennsylvania)
Oct 17, 1787: A Citizen of America: An Examination Into the Leading Principles of America (Pennsylvania)
Oct 18, 1787: Brutus I (New York)

The New York Antifederalist, anticipating by two weeks the opening paragraph of Federalist 1, also addressed to the people of New York, introduces his own first essay with the observation that “the most important question that was ever proposed to your decision, or to the decision of any people under heaven, is before you.” Nothing less than “the dignity of human nature” and the blessings of liberty are at stake. Brutus then argues that “although the government reported by the convention does not go to a perfect and entire consolidation, yet it approaches so near to it, that it must, if executed, certainly and infallibly terminate in it.” The necessary and proper clause, the supremacy clause, and the judicial power have the potentiality to transform America from a system of confederated states into a “complete consolidated government.” And anticipating the distinction between a democracy and a republic in Federalist 10 and 63, and agreeing that a representative government is to be preferred to a pure democracy, Brutus then argues that, contrary to wisdom and experience, the Framers have given us “an extensive republic” rather than a confederation of small republics. A “free republic” over “such vast extent” of territory is impracticable because, in time, the people will become “acquainted with very few of their rulers” and lose “confidence” in, and control over, the government.

Oct 18, 1787: Elbridge Gerry’s Objections (Massachusetts)
Oct 18, 1787: Atticus Essay II (Massachusetts)
Oct 20, 1787: An Old Whig III (Pennsylvania)
Oct 22, 1787: John DeWitt I (Massachusetts)
Oct 24, 1787: James Madison to Thomas Jefferson (Virginia)
Oct 24, 1787: Monitor Essay (Massachusetts)
Oct 24, 1787: Centinel II (Pennsylvania)
Oct 25, 1787: A Republican No. 1 (New York)
Oct 25, 1787: Cato III (New York)
Oct 25, 1787: A Federalist Essay (Pennsylvania)
Oct 27, 1787: John DeWitt II (Massachusetts)
Oct 27, 1787: An Old Whig IV (Pennsylvania)
Oct 27, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 1 (New York)

Hamilton says Americans have the opportunity and obligation to “decide the important question” can “good government” be established by “reflection and choice,” or is mankind “forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force.”
To assist “our deliberations,” he provides an outline of topics to be covered “in a series of papers.” 1) “The utility of the union,” 2) the “insufficiency” of the Articles of Confederation, 3) the minimum “energetic” government requirement, 4) “the true principles of republican government,” 5) the analogy of the proposed Constitution to the State governments, 6) and the added security “to republican government, to liberty, and to property” provided by the proposed Constitution. He concludes this essay on the “momentous decision”: adopt the Constitution or dismember the Union.

Oct 30, 1787: Philo-Publius Essay I (New York)
Oct 30, 1787: Letter from Gouverneur Morris to George Washington (Pennsylvania)
Oct 31, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 2 (New York)

November 1787

Nov 1, 1787: An Old Whig V (Pennsylvania)
Nov 1, 1787: Brutus II (New York)

He considers “the merits” of his argument in Brutus I “that to reduce the thirteen states into one government, would prove the destruction of your liberties.” Again anticipating The Federalist, Brutus argues that “when a building is to be erected which is intended to stand for ages, the foundation should be firmly laid.” But the foundation of the Constitution is poorly laid because it lacks a declaration of rights “expressly reserving to the people such of their essential natural rights, as are not necessary to be parted with.” He rejects as “specious” the arguments of an unnamed Framer’s State House speech (James Wilson) as to why a bill of rights is unnecessary: after all, “the powers, rights, and authority, granted to the general government by this constitution, are as complete, with respect to every object to which they extend, as that of any state government.” Furthermore, why did the Framers secure certain rights in Article I, Section 9, “but omitted others of more importance”?

Nov 1, 1788: Cincinnatus No. 1 (New York)
Nov 2, 1787: Foreigner I (Pennsylvania)
Nov 3, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 3 (New York)
Nov 3, 1788: Elbridge Gerry to the Massachusetts General Court (Massachusetts)
Nov 5, 1787: John DeWitt III (Massachusetts)
Nov 5, 1787: A Landholder Letter I (Connecticut)
Nov 6, 1787: An Officer of the Late Continental Army (Pennsylvania)
Nov 7, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 4 (New York)
Nov 7, 1787: Philadelphiensis I (Pennsylvania)
Nov 8, 1787: Centinel III (Pennsylvania)
Nov 8, 1787: Brutus, Junior (New York)
Nov 8, 1787: Cato IV (New York)
Nov 8, 1787: Cincinnatus No. 2 (New York)
Nov 8, 1787: Federal Farmer: Letters to the Republican (Virginia)
Nov 10, 1787: Massachusetts Centinel (Massachusetts)
Nov 10, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 5 (New York)
Nov 12, 1787: A Landholder Letter II (Connecticut)
Nov 14, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 6 (New York)
Nov 14, 1787: Socius Essay (Pennsylvania)
Nov 15, 1787: Brutus III (New York)
Nov 15, 1787: A Countryman I (Connecticut)
Nov 15, 1787: Essay by a Georgian (Georgia)
Nov 16, 1787: Philo-Publius Essay II (New York)
Nov 17, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 7 (New York)
Nov 17, 1787: An American: The Crisis (Massachusetts)
Nov 19, 1787: A Landholder III (Connecticut)
Nov 19, 1787: A Farmer, of New Jersey: Observations on Government New York (New Jersey)
Nov 20, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 8 (New York)
Nov 21, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 9 (New York)
Nov 21, 1787: George Mason’s Objections (Virginia)
Nov 22, 1787: Brutus on Mason’s Objections (Virginia)
Nov 22, 1787: Cato V (New York)
Nov 22, 1787: A Countryman II (Connecticut)
Nov 22, 1787: Atticus Essay III (Massachusetts)
Nov 22, 1787: Cincinnatus No. 4 (New York)
Nov 22, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 10 (New York)

This is the first essay by Madison in The Federalist. It contains twenty-three paragraphs.
1. The “violence of faction” is the “mortal disease” of popular governments. The public assemblies have been infected with the vice of majority tyranny: “measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice, and the rights of the minor party; but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.”

2. What is a faction? “A number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”

3. How can we cure “the mischiefs of faction?” We can either cure it by I) “removing its causes,” or II) “controlling its effects.”

4. There are “two methods of removing the causes of faction”: I a) destroy “the liberty essential to its existence,” or I b) give “to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests.”

5. I a) is a “remedy that is worse than the disease,” because it is “unwise.” It entails the abolition of liberty, “which is essential to political life.”

6. I b) is “impracticable.” Opinions, passions, and interests are unlikely to be in harmony. “The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government.” And that leads to “the division of society into different interests and parties.”

7. Further consideration of I b). “The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man.” Thus, there are many sources of factions, “but the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property.” The “regulation of these various and interfering interests,” that “grow up of necessity in civilized nations & forms the principal task of modern legislation and forms the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of government.”

8. Further consideration of I b). Legislators, alas, tend to be “advocates and parties to the causes which they determine.” But “justice and the public good,” require “impartiality.”

9. Further consideration of I b). “It is vain to say that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clashing interests and render all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.”

10. Conclusion to I b) and the introduction to II. “The inference to which we are brought is that [I] the causesof faction cannot be removed and that relief is only to be sought in the means of [II] controlling its effects.”

11. Further consideration of II) “controlling its effects.” “The republican principle” of majority rule is the solution to minority faction. But what if we have majority faction? “To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and form of popular government, is then the great desideratum by which this form of government can be rescued from the opprobrium under which it has labored and be recommended to the esteem and adoption of mankind.”

12. The introduction of II a) and II b) as the solutions to majority faction. “Either [II a)] the existence of the same passion or interest in a majority at the same time must be prevented, or [II b)] the majority having such coexistent passion or interest, must be rendered by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression.”

13. The introduction of III, the form of government, to implement the solution. Madison declares that III a) “pure democracy,” works against solutions II a) and II b.

14. III b) “a republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect and promises the cure for which we are seeking.”

15. “The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic.”

16. The first difference III b)* is “to refine and enlarge the public views” by way of the election system. The question is do we choose “small (IVa) or extensive (IVb) republics?”

17. IV b) is better than IV a) because it provides “a greater probability of a fit choice” of representatives.

18. IV b) is better than IV a) because it “will be more difficult for unworthy candidates to practice the vicious arts by which elections are too often carried.”

19. The Constitution “forms a happy combination” of IVa) and IVb): “the great and aggregate interests being referred to the national, the local and particular to the State legislatures.”

20. The second difference III b)** “is the greater number of citizens and extent of territory which may be brought within the compass of republican than of democratic government.”

21. III b)** clinches the case for IV b) over IV a).

22. “The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States.”

23. “In the extent and proper structure of the Union, therefore, we behold a republican remedy for the diseases most incident to republican government.”

Nov 23, 1787: Agrippa I (Massachusetts)
Nov 24, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 11 (New York)
Nov 24, 1787: An Old Whig VI (Pennsylvania)
Nov 24, 1787 – Dec 24, 1787: Timothy Pickering and the Letters from the Federal Farmer (New York)
Nov 24, 1787: John Jay and the Constitution (New York)
Nov 26, 1787: A Landholder Letter IV (Connecticut)
Nov 26,1787: A Democratic Federalist (Pennsylvania)
Nov 27, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 12 (New York)
Nov 27, 1787: Agrippa II (Massachusetts)
Nov 28, 1787: Philadelphia Freeman’s Journal (Pennsylvania)
Nov 28, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 13 (New York)
Nov 28, 1787: Philadelphiensis II (Pennsylvania)
Nov 28, 1787: An Old Whig VII (Pennsylvania)
Nov 28, 1787: A Federal Republican: A Review of the Constitution (Virginia)
Nov 29, 1787: Brutus IV (New York)
Nov 29, 1787: Philo-Publius Essay III (New York)
Nov 29, 1787: Maryland’s Constitutional Convention Delegates Address the State House of Delegates (Maryland)
Nov 29, 1787: A Countryman III (Connecticut)
Nov 30, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 14 (New York)
Nov 30, 1787: Centinel IV (Pennsylvania)
Nov 30, 1787: Agrippa III (Massachusetts)

December 1787

Dec 1787: John DeWitt IV (Massachusetts)
Dec 1, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 15 (New York)
Dec 1, 1787: Philo-Publius Essay IV (New York)
Dec 2, 1787: Daniel Carroll to Benjamin Franklin, Annapolis (Maryland)
Dec 3, 1787: Agrippa IV (Massachusetts)
Dec 3, 1787: A Landholder Letter V (Connecticut)
Dec 3, 1787: Tobias Lear to John Langdon, Mount Vernon (Virginia)
Dec 4, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 16 (New York)
Dec 5, 1787: Philadelphiensis No. 3 (Pennsylvania)
Dec 5, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 17 (New York)
Dec 6, 1787: A Countryman IV (Connecticut)
Dec 6, 1787: Z. (Massachusetts)
Dec 6, 1787: Cincinnatus VI (New York)
Dec 7, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 18 (New York)
Dec 8, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 19 (New York)
Dec 10, 1787: A Landholder VI (Connecticut)
Dec 11, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 20 (New York)
Dec 11, 1787: Agrippa V (Massachusetts)
Dec 12, 1787: Philadelphiensis IV (Pennsylvania)
Dec 12, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 21 (New York)
Dec 12, 1787: Cato Essay (New York)
Dec 13, 1787: Brutus V (New York)
Dec 13, 1787: Alfred (Pennsylvania)
Dec 14, 1787: Agrippa VI (Massachusetts)
Dec 14, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 22 (New York)
Dec 14, 1787: Letter from George Washington to Charles Carter (Virginia)
Dec 16, 1787: Cato VI (New York)
Dec 17, 1787: A Landholder Letter VII (Connecticut)
Dec 18, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 23 (New York)
Dec 18, 1787: Agrippa VII (Massachusetts)
Dec 19, 1787: Extract of a Letter from New York, dated December 7 (New York)
Dec 19, 1787: Anti-Cincinnatus (Pennsylvania)
Dec 19, 1787: Philadelphiensis No. 5 (Pennsylvania)
Dec 19, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 24 (New York)
Dec 20, 1787: A Countryman V (Connecticut)
Dec 21, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 25 (New York)
Dec 22, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 26 (New York)
Dec 22, 1787: Atticus Essay IV (Massachusetts)
Dec 24, 1787: A Landholder Letter VIII (Connecticut)
Dec 25, 1787: Centinel VI (Pennsylvania)
Dec 25, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 27 (New York)
Dec 25, 1787: Federal Farmer VI (Virginia)
Dec 25, 1787: Agrippa VIII (Massachusetts)
Dec 26, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 28 (New York)
Dec 26, 1787: Philadelphiensis No. 6 (Pennsylvania)
Dec 27, 1787: Centinel VII (Pennsylvania)
Dec 27, 1787: Brutus VI (New York)
Dec 28, 1787: Genuine Information I (Maryland)
Dec 28, 1787: Samuel Adams and the Constitution (Massachusetts)
Dec 28, 1787: Agrippa IX (Massachusetts)
Dec 28, 1787: Luther Martin: Genuine Information II (Maryland)
Dec 29, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 29 (New York)
Dec 29, 1787: Centinel VIII (Pennsylvania)
Dec 30, 1787: Federalist Paper No. 30 (New York)
Dec 31, 1787: A Landholder Letter IX (Connecticut)
Dec 31, 1787: Federal Farmer VII (Virginia)
Dec 31, 1787: America by Noah Webster (New York)
Dec 31, 1787: A Freeman Essay to the People of Connecticut (Connecticut)

1788

Month Unknown 1788

1788: A Citizen of New York (New York)

January 1788

Jan 1788: Address by a Plebian (New York)
Jan 1788: Advertisement for the Pamphlet Edition of the Federalist (New York)
Jan 1, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 31 (New York)
Jan 1, 1788: Agrippa X (Massachusetts)
Jan 1, 1788: Genuine Information II (Maryland)
Jan 2, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 32 (New York)
Jan 2, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 33 (New York)
Jan 3, 1788: Cato VII (New York)
Jan 3, 1788: Federal Farmer VIII (New York)
Jan 3, 1788: Brutus VII (New York)
Jan 4, 1788: Federal Farmer IX (Virginia)
Jan 4, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information III (Maryland)
Jan 5, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 34 (New York)
Jan 5, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 35 (New York)
Jan 7, 1788: Resolutions of the Tradesmen of Boston (Massachusetts)
Jan 7, 1788: Federal Farmer X (Virginia)
Jan 8, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 36 (New York)
Jan 8, 1788: Centinel IX (Pennsylvania)
Jan 8, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information IV (Maryland)
Jan 8, 1788: Agrippa XI (Massachusetts)
Jan 10, 1788: Brutus VIII (New York)
Jan 10, 1788: Philadelphiensis No. 7 (Pennsylvania)
Jan 11, 1788: Federal Farmer XI (Virginia)
Jan 11, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 37 (New York)
Jan 11, 1788: Common Sense Essay (Massachusetts)
Jan 11, 1788: Agrippa XII (Massachusetts)
Jan 11, 1788: Governor George Clinton Speech to the New York Legislature (New York)
Jan 11, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information V (Maryland)
Jan 12, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 38 (New York)
Jan 12, 1788: Federal Farmer XII (Virginia)
Jan 12, 1788: Centinel X (Pennsylvania)
Jan 14, 1788: Federal Farmer XIII (Virginia)
Jan 14, 1788: Agrippa XII Part 2 (Massachusetts)
Jan 14, 1788: The Report of the New York’s Delegates to the Constitutional Convention (New York)
Jan 15, 1788: Fisher Ames Speech, Massachusetts Convention (Massachusetts)
Jan 15, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information VI (Maryland)
Jan 16, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 39 (New York)
Jan 16, 1788: State Soldier Essay I (Virginia)
Jan 16, 1788: Centinel XI (Pennsylvania)
Jan 17, 1788: Brutus IX (New York)
Jan 17, 1788: Federal Farmer XIV (Virginia)
Jan 18, 1788: Agrippa XII Part 3 (Massachusetts)
Jan 18, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 40 (New York)
Jan 18, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information VII (Maryland)
Jan 18, 1788: Federal Farmer XV (Virginia)
Jan 18, 1788: A Citizen of New Haven by Roger Sherman, Letter I (Connecticut)
Jan 19, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 41 (New York)
Jan 22, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 42. (New York)
Jan 22, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information VIII (Maryland)
Jan 22, 1788: Agrippa XIII (Massachusetts)
Jan 23, 1788: Centinel XII (Pennsylvania)
Jan 23, 1788: Federal Farmer XVI (Virginia)
Jan 23, 1788: A Copy of a Letter from Centinel (Pennsylvania)
Jan 23, 1788: Philadelphiensis VIII (Pennsylvania)
Jan 23, 1788: Federal Farmer XVII (Virginia)
Jan 23, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 43 (New York)
Jan 23, 1788: A Freeman Essay I (Pennsylvania)
Jan 24, 1788: Brutus X (New York)
Jan 25, 1788: Agrippa XIV Part 1 (Massachusetts)
Jan 25, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 44 (New York)
Jan 25, 1788: Federal Farmer XVIII (Virginia)
Jan 26, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 45 (New York)
Jan 27, 1788: Luther Martin to Thomas Cockey Deye (Maryland)
Jan 29, 1788: Genuine Information IX (Maryland)
Jan 29, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 46 (New York)
Jan 29, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information IX (Maryland)
Jan 29, 1788: Agrippa XIV Part 2 (Massachusetts)
Jan 29, 1788: Agrippa XV (Massachusetts)
Jan 30, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 47 (New York)
Jan 30, 1788: A Freeman Essay II (Pennsylvania)
Jan 30, 1788: Centinel XIII (Pennsylvania)
Jan 31, 1788: Brutus XI (New York)

February 1788

Feb 1, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 48 (New York)
Feb 1, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information X (Maryland)
Feb 2, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 49 (New York)
Feb 5, 1788: Agrippa XVI (Massachusetts)
Feb 5, 1788: Centinel XIV (Pennsylvania)
Feb 5, 1788: Sidney No. 1 (New York)
Feb 5, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 50 (New York)
Feb 6, 1788: Old Whig No. 8 (Pennsylvania)
Feb 6, 1788: Philadelphiensis No. 9 (Pennsylvania)
Feb 6, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 51 (New York)

This is the last of fifteen essays written by Madison on “the great difficulty” of founding. There are ten paragraphs in the essay.
1. The way to implement the theory of separation of powers in practice is to so contrive “the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places.”

2. Accordingly, “each department should have a will of its own; and consequently should be so constituted that the members of each should have as little agency as possible in the appointment of the members of the others.”

3. “It is equally evident that the members of each department should be as little dependent as possible on those of the others for the emoluments annexed to their offices.”

4. A: “The great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others… Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interests of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place.”

B: Isn’t relying on ambition and interest, “a reflection on human nature?” But, adds Madison, what is government itself but the greatest reflection on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

C: “The Great Difficulty” of Founding: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government, but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”

5. “This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives, might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public.” Madison calls this policy “inventions of prudence.”

6. “In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.” Thus, it is “not possible to give to each department an equal power of self-defense.” Accordingly, we need to add here and subtract there. We can divide the legislature into two branches and fortify the executive a) with the power of a conditional veto and b) “some qualified connection” with the Senate.

7. The general government comes closer to passing the “self-defense” of each branch test than do the State governments.

8. “There are, moreover, two considerations particularly applicable to the federal system of America, which place that system in a very interesting point of view.”

9. First, America is a “compound republic,” rather than a “single republic.” This provides for a “double security… to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.”

10. Second, there are only two ways to combat “the evil” of majority faction, a) “by creating a will in the community independent of the majority,” or b) creating an authoritative source “dependent on the society,” but, and here is the essence of the American experiment, the society “will be broken down into so many parts,” that it contain a vast number and variety of interests.
To repeat, the American society will “be broken down into so many parts, interests and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority.” Echoing Federalist 10, Madison says “the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights. It consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects.” And both depend on “the extended republic.” Let us not forget, adds Madison, that “justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.” Fortunately, in “the extended republic… a coalition of a majority of the whole society could seldom take place on any other principles than those of justice and the general good.” We have rejected the “precarious security” provided by the “hereditary or self-appointed” alternative of “introducing into the government… a will independent of the society itself.”

Feb 6, 1788: A Freeman Essay III (Pennsylvania)
Feb 6, 1788: State Soldier Essay II (Virginia)
Feb 7, 1788: Brutus XII (Part 1) (New York)
Feb 8, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 52 (New York)
Feb 8, 1788: Luther Martin: Genuine Information XII (Maryland)
Feb 9, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 53 (New York)
Feb 12, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 54 (New York)
Feb 13, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 55 (New York)
Feb 14, 1788: Brutus XII (Part 2) (New York)
Feb 16, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 56 (New York)
Feb 18, 1788: Elihu Essay (Connecticut)
Feb 19, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 57 (New York)
Feb 20, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 58 (New York)
Feb 21, 1788: Brutus XIII (New York)
Feb 21, 1788: Sidney No. 2 (New York)”
Feb 22, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 59 (New York)
Feb 22, 1788: Centinel XV (Pennsylvania)
Feb 23, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 60 (New York)
Feb 23, 1788: John Langdon to Rufus King (New Hampshire)
Feb 25-27, 1788: Remarks on the New Plan of Government, Hugh Williamson (New York)
Feb 26, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 61 (New York)
Feb 26, 1788: Centinel XVI (Pennsylvania)
Feb 27, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 62 (New York)
Feb 27, 1788: Massachusetts Centinel (New Hampshire)
Feb 27, 1788: Speech by John Hancock to the Massachusetts General Court (Massachusetts)
Feb 28, 1788: Brutus XIV (Part 1) (New York)
Feb 29, 1788: A Landholder X (Maryland)

March 1788

Mar 1, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 63 (New York)
Mar 5, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 64 (New York)
Mar 6, 1788: Brutus XIV (Part 2) (New York)
Mar 7, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 65 (New York)
Mar 7, 1788: Maryland Farmer Essay III (Part 1) (Maryland)
Mar. 7, 1788: Reply to Maryland Landholder X (Maryland)
Mar 8, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 66 (New York)
Mar 8, 1788: Philadelphiensis XI (Pennsylvania)
Mar 10, 1788: A Landholder XI (Connecticut)
Mar 11, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 67 (New York)
Mar 12, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 68 (New York)
Mar 12, 1788: State Soldier Essay III (Virginia)
Mar 12, 1788: One of the People Called Quakers (Virginia)
Mar 14, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 69 (New York)
Mar 15, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 70 (New York)
Mar 17, 1788: A Landholder XII (Connecticut)
Mar 18, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 71 (New York)
Mar 18, 1788: Maryland Farmer Essay III (Part 2) (Maryland)
Mar 18, 1788: Luther Martin: Address No. 1 (Maryland)
Mar 19, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 72 (New York)
Mar 19, 1788: State Soldier Essay IV (Virginia)
Mar 20, 1788: Brutus XV (New York)
Mar 21, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 73 (New York)
Mar 21, 1788: Luther Martin: Address No. 2 (Maryland)
Mar 24, 1788: A Landholder Letter XIII (Connecticut)
Mar 24, 1788: Centinel XVII (Pennsylvania)
Mar 25, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 74 (New York)
Mar 26, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 75 (New York)
Mar 28, 1788: Luther Martin: Address No. 3 (Maryland)
Mar 30, 1788: Luther Martin to the Citizens of the United States (Maryland)

April 1788

Apr 1, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 76 (New York)
Apr 2, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 77 (New York)
Apr 2, 1788: State Soldier Essay V (Virginia)
Apr 4, 1788: Maryland Farmer Essay VII (Part 1) (Maryland)
Apr 4, 1788: Luther Martin: Address No. 4 (Maryland)
Apr 9, 1788: Centinel XVIII (Pennsylvania)
Apr 9, 1788: Philadelphiensis XII (Pennsylvania)
Apr 10, 1788: Brutus XVI (New York)
Apr 10, 1788: Spurious Luther Martin: Address No. 5 (Pennsylvania)
Apr 12, 1788: Fabius I (Pennsylvania)
Apr 15, 1788: Fabius II (Pennsylvania)
Apr 17, 1788: A Plebeian: An Address to the People of New York (New York)
Apr 17, 1788: Fabius III (Pennsylvania)
Apr 18, 1788: Elbridge Gerry Responds to the Maryland “Landholder” X (Massachusetts)
Apr 19, 1788: Fabius IV (Pennsylvania)
Apr 22, 1788: Fabius V (Pennsylvania)
Apr 24, 1788: Fabius VI (Pennsylvania)
Apr 26, 1788: Fabius VII (Pennsylvania)
Apr 29, 1788: Fabius VIII (Pennsylvania)

May 1788

May 1, 1788: Fabius IX (Pennsylvania)
May 2, 1788: Federal Farmer: An Additional Number of Letters to the Republican (Virginia)
May 2, 1788: Federal Farmer: An Additional Number of Letters to the Republican (Virginia)
May 12, 1788: Philodemos Essay (Massachusetts)
May 25, 1788: Observations on the Constitution (Virginia)
May 28, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 78 (New York)

June 1788

June 1, 1788: Observations of the Constitution, James Monroe (Virginia)
June 6, 1788: Edmund Randolph Speech (Virginia)
June 10, 1788: Edmund Randolph Speech, Virginia Ratifying Convention (Virginia)
June 18, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 79 (New York)
June 21, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 80 (New York)
June 24, 1788: John Lansing, New York Ratifying Convention (New York)
June 25, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 81 (New York)

July 1788

July 2, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 82 (New York)
July 4, 1788: Oration on the Fourth of July (Pennsylvania)
July 5, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 83 (New York)
July 16, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 84 (New York)

August 1788

August 13, 1788: Federalist Paper No. 85 (New York)

December 1788

Dec 10, 1788: An American Citizen: Thoughts on the Subject of Amendments, Part II (Pennsylvania)
Dec 18, 1788: A Citizen of New Haven by Roger Sherman, Letter I (Connecticut)
Dec 24, 1788: An American Citizen: Thoughts on the Subject of Amendments, Part III (Pennsylvania)
Dec 25, 1788: A Citizen of New Haven by Roger Sherman, Letter II (Connecticut)

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