A collection of essays written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton and published during the ratification debate in New York to lay out the federalists' arguments in favor of the new Constitution; since their publication, these influential essays have served as an important source for constitutional interpretation. The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October of 1787 and August 1788. A compilation of these and eight others, called The Federalist; or, The New Constitution, was published in two volumes in 1788 by J. and A. McLean. The series' correct title is The Federalist; the title The Federalist Papers did not emerge until the twentieth century.
