Selected Federalist Papers

Selected Federalist Papers, paraphrased into Modern English

The Federalist is a collection of 85 articles written under the pen name "Publius" by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison to persuade the American people to ratify [approve] their new Constitution. Because this is actual authors of Constitution explaining the intent of the clauses and what potential issues were dealt with, The Federalist papers are considered the best commentary on the Constitution, and provide the best resource for understanding the Constitution. There were no plans for paraphrasing more than eight, but the COVID-19 lockdown suddenly meant I had time on my hands. I bolded the eight papers I originally paraphrased since those are the ones most often assigned for school reading (and perhaps that suggests that those are among the most important ones).

There are some summaries with notes at SparkNotes, and Tara Ross blogged through all 85 of the Federalist Papers. I am aware of three other paraphrases that I've compared here. 

Number 1 - Addressing Objections 

Number 2 - Dangers from Foreign Influence 

Number 3 - Dangers from Foreign Threats, continued 

Number 10 - Divisive Party Factions 

Number 14 - A Republic Works for a Large Country 

Number 15 - The Old Articles of Confederation Aren't Working 

Number 32 - The General Power of Taxation, Continued 

Number 37 - The Challenge of Coming Up with a Balanced Government 

Number 39 - Republican Principles 

Number 42 - Two Kinds of Powers Outlined in the Constitution 

Number 44 - Powers Given to the Federal Government 

Number 46 - State vs Federal Governments; Militia Protects from Federal Government 

Number 47 - How State Constitutions Handle the The Separation of Powers  

Number 48 - The Branches Shouldn't Be So Separate That They Have No Control Over Each Other 

Number 51 - Proper Checks and Balances 

Number 54 - Determining How Many Representatives Each State 

Number 57 - Does the Election of Representation Elevate a Few at the Expense of Everyone Else?

Number 62 - The Senate Adds Stability

Number 65 - The Senate Judges Impeachment Trials 

Number 68 - How the President is Elected; The Electoral College 

Number 70 - The Executive Branch 

Number 71 - Length of the President's Term in Office

Number 78 - The Judiciary Branch 

Number 81 - The Judiciary Branch will Have Limited Power





I also tried my hand at paraphrasing the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. 

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