POS2050 American National Government Federalist Papers Analysis Guide The Federalist Papers were authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. They are a series of letters to the editor, written to the citizens of New York. The papers are an argument in favor of ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Today they serve as a guidebook for the intentions of the founders related to how our government should function. Federalist No. ______ Describe the main idea of this Federalist Paper: List the key details of this Federalist Paper and explain how they support the main idea you identified: Provide one quote that you believe captures the most important message of this Federalist Paper. Explain the reason for the quote you selected: Explain how this Federalist Paper relates to the current module of the course:

The Constitution is composed of a preamble, seven articles and 27 amendments. A federal system is established through the division of powers between the national government and the established governments. A balanced national government is also instituted, separating powers between three independent branches: the executive, the legislative and the judicial. The executive branch, the President, makes national laws comply; the legislative branch, a burden of Congress, draws up national laws; and the judicial branch, a position of the Supreme Court and other federal courts, application and interpretation of laws when it resolves in matters of legal disputes in federal courts.

One of the most important messages in this document is the national government and those with concurrent powers, that is, the two levels of government they can exercise. The laws of the national government have the primacy in case there is a conflict. The powers that the Constitution does not confer on the national government or deny to the states, those that belong to the people or the states.

The importance of this document is to make students aware of the constitutional system of the United States in a way that is accessible but at the same time broad enough to cover the most important aspects of the history of such constitutionalism.

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