Praised by Thomas Jefferson as "the best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written", the Federalist Papers are a collection of 85 essays and articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison, supporting the ratification of the United States Constitution.

They were published serially in "The Independent Journal", and, "The New York Packet", with the express intention of persuading the voting public of New York to accept the newly drafted constitution in 1787. The power of the constitutional arguments still resonate today, such is the clarity and intelligence of the writing.