Jack N. Rakove

Colleen A. Sheehan

A multifaceted approach to The Federalist that covers both its historical value and its continuing political relevance.

The Cambridge Companion to the Federalist Papers

Gary L. McDowell

Though The Federalist Papers are rightly renowned as a primary exposition of the principles and purposes of the proposed United States Constitution, there were many writers other than John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton who in 1787 and 1788 argued for the Constitution's ratification. Indeed, as Herbert J. Storing, Jr. once observed, "[t]hese 'other' Federalist writings carried the main burden of the public defense of the proposed Constitution . . . [and] several of them were vastly more influential than The Federalist." In a collection that is certain to make a major contribution to our understanding of the American Founding, Friends of the Constitution brings together forty-nine of the most important of these "other" Federalists' writings. Included are the original texts of pamphlets, speeches, and other pro-ratification writings of George Washington, Benjamin Rush, Nicholas Collin, John Dickinson, James Wilson, Tench Coxe, Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, Roger Sherman, Fisher Ames, Peletiah Webster, Samuel Tenny, Stephen Hopkins, Oliver Ellsworth, and David Ramsay. Separately they address the underlying themes of the historic Federalist-Anti-Federalist debate: "The Necessity of Union," "Energetic but Limited Government," and "Popular Government and Civic Virtue." The text includes Storing's important assessment of these writings, and the volume includes citations to Storing's monumental seven-volume Complete Anti-Federalist. Colleen A. Sheehan is a Professor of Political Science at Villanova Univeristy. Gary L McDowell is Director of the Institute for United States Studies at the University of London.

Writings of the "other" Federalists, 1787-1788

Friends of the Constitution

This book provides a compelling and incisive portrait of James Madison the scholar and political philosopher. Through extensive historical research and analysis of Madison's heretofore underappreciated 1791 "Notes on Government," Madison's scholarly contributions are cast in a new light, yielding a richer, more comprehensive understanding of his political thought than ever before. Tracing Madison's intellectual investigations of republics and philosophers, both ancient and modern, this book invites the reader to understand the pioneering ideas of the greatest American scholar of politics and republicanism - and, in the process, to discover anew the vast possibilities and potential of that great experiment in self-government known as the American republic.

The Legacy of Classical Republicanism

The Mind of James Madison

There were many writers other than John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton who, in 1787 and 1788, argued for the Constitution's ratification. In a collection central to our understanding of the American founding, Friends of the Constitution brings together forty-nine of the most important of these "other" Federalists' writings. Colleen A. Sheehan is Professor of Political Science at Villanova University. Gary L. McDowell is the Tyler Haynes Interdisciplinary Professor of Leadership Studies, Political Science, and Law at the University of Richmond in Virginia. From 1992 to 2003 he was the Director of the Institute of United States Studies in the University of London.

The eighty-five Federalist essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison as 'Publius' to support the ratification of the Constitution in 1787-88 are regarded as the preeminent American contribution to Western political theory. Recently, there have been major developments in scholarship on the Revolutionary and Founding era as well as increased public interest in constitutional matters that make this a propitious moment to reflect on the contributions and complexity of The Federalist. This volume of specially commissioned essays covers the broad scope of 'Publius' work, including historical, political, philosophical, juridical, and moral dimensions. In so doing, they bring the design and arguments of the text into focus for twenty-first century scholars, students, and citizens and show how these diverse treatments of The Federalist are associated with an array of substantive political and constitutional perspectives in our own time.

Colleen A. Sheehan

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