(1) A small group within a larger group. (2) In its political sense, according to James Madison in Federalist 10, a faction is a "number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united ... by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."

A series of articles written for newspapers in 1787-88 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay urging the adoption of the Constitution and supporting the need for a strong national government. The articles were published as a book, The Federalist, in 1788.

Advocates for a strong central government who urged ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1787-88. They flourished as a political party in the 1790s under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton. The party disappeared from national politics in 1816.

A situation in which a majority uses the principle of majority rule but fails to respect the rights and interests of the minority. See also majority rule

James Madison's term in The Federalist for a study of politics utilizing reason, observation, and history that would help the Founders construct a new government on a rational and informed basis.

Aristotle was a student of the philosopher Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great. Considered one of the great philosophers in the Western intellectual tradition, he wrote treatises on subjects as diverse as government, logic, rhetoric, ethics, poetry, and biology. Aristotle continued an effort begun by Plato to place objects and ideas in categories based on similar properties. After Alexander's death, Aristotle fled Athens.

Hamilton was a senior aide-de-camp to General Washington and an artillery captain during the Revolutionary War. He was a delegate from New York to the Philadelphia Convention and one of three authors of The Federalist, written to urge ratification of the U.S. Constitution. He later served as the first secretary of the treasury, put the nation's finances on a firm footing and advocated a strong national government.

Jay was the first chief justice of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1795. He wrote New York's first constitution. Jay served as president of the Continental Congress and as minister to Spain and England. He was a strong supporter of the Constitution and one of the authors of The Federalist. Jay was appointed chief justice by President Washington but resigned in 1795 when he was elected governor of New York.

The "Father of the Constitution" was born to a wealthy Virginia family. He was taught at home and in private schools, then graduated from the College of New Jersey. While deciding whether to become a lawyer or minister, Madison became involved in the revolutionary cause, thereby entering state and local politics. His poor health kept him from serving in the military. In 1780, Madison was chosen to serve in the Continental Congress, where he played a major role. He was one of the most influential voices calling for a constitutional convention. He came to the Philadelphia Convention with a plan for the new government, took extensive notes on the proceedings, spoke more than 150 times, and worked tirelessly on various committees. As one of the authors of The Federalist, Madison was also a key figure in the battle for ratification. Following the convention, Madison served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, helping to frame the Bill of Rights and organize the executive department. Under Jefferson, Madison served as secretary of state. He then succeeded Jefferson as president. In retirement, Madison continued to speak out on public issues.

George Washington was born in Virginia in 1732. He grew up there on several plantations along the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. He was not particularly well educated, but did learn surveying. In 1753, he began his service to the country, which was to continue throughout his life, despite his desire to live a more private existence. Washington's efforts as commander of the Continental Army are well known. After the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, Washington returned to his home, Mount Vernon. Although he did not initially want to attend the Philadelphia Convention, his friends convinced him that his presence was necessary. He was elected president of the convention but spoke little. His presence and approval, however, were important. Nearly everyone assumed that Washington would be the first president of the United States, which, of course, he was, serving from 1789-1797.

Hamilton's thoughts on Article 3, Section 1 of the Constitution: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." In line with his support of an independent judiciary, Hamilton feared the wording of the judicial powers clause implied that Congress had the power to abolish courts at its pleasure.

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Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin wanted to give a short speech to the Convention prior to the signing of the final draft of the Constitution. Too weak to actually give the speech himself, he had fellow Pennsylvanian James Wilson deliver the speech, in which he argues for pragmatism over dogmatism in adopting a general government for the people.

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James Madison originally submitted 17 amendments to become the Bill of RIghts. All were passed by the House of Representatives, but only 12 were passed by the Senate and the states ratified 10 of them. The first article was not ratified and the second would later be ratified in 1992 as the Twenty-seventh Amendment.

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Anti-Federalist paper published in the Philadelphia Independent Gazetteer and Philadelphia Freeman's Journal, warning that people a fear or anarchy is not enough reason to justify ratifying the Constitution. It directly responds to the Federalist Papers, claiming they evoke unreasonable fear and create false hypotheticals at the expense of more productive discussion of government.

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A collection of eighty-five essays advocating the ratification of the constitution proposed at the Philadelphia Convention, properly called The Federalist, written between October, 1787 and May, 1788 by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Originally, seventy-seven of them were published as serials in the Independent Journal and the New York Packet under the pseudonym Publius.

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From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 1 is an essay by Alexander Hamilton and the first of the Federalist Papers, published on October 27, 1787. Titled "General Introduction," It is essentially a preface to the series, laying out in broad strokes the major points the authors hope to demonstrate -- that the Articles of Confederation should be disposed of, and that the proposed new constitution is written to properly distribute the powers of government to the greatest benefit of the governed.

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From Wikipedia: In this paper, titled, "Consequences of Hostilities Between the States," Hamilton argues for the utility of the Union to the well-being of Americans, specifically addressing the negative consequences if the Union were to collapse and conflict arise between the states. He states that states would then require their own standing armies, making possible the rule of martial oppression and greater vulnerability to attack from foreign countries.

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From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 10 is an essay by James Madison arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. It addresses the question of how to guard against "factions" with interests contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the whole community. Madison argues that a strong, large republic would be a better guard against those dangers than smaller republics like the individual states.

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From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 14 is an essay titled, "Objections to the Proposed Constitution From Extent of Territory Answered" by James Madison addressing a major objection of the Anti-Federalists to the proposed Constitution: that the sheer size of the United States would make it impossible to govern justly as a single country. Madison makes the distinction between a democracy, where the citizens must meet together to exercise government, and a republic, where elected agents represent the people and meet on their behalf.

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From Wikipedia: Hamilton's aim is to demonstrate that a government must have unlimited power of taxation for such circumstances as war and natural disaster. He argues that the state governments, which share taxation rights with the federal government, will serve as a balance and prevent abuse of such powers. He argues, further, that the federal government will always incur the greatest expenses, should have the greatest body to draw taxes from, and require a greater power of taxation than the states.

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From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 37 is an essay by James Madison, published on January 11, 1788 discussing some of the political questions raised at the Constitutional Convention, such as the question of the authority of the state versus the liberty of the people. Among other problems faced at the convention, including representation of small and large states, the balance between federal and state authority and geographical concerns, Madison points out how wonderful it is that delegates could overcome them.

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From Wikipedia: In No. 39, James Madison attempts to describe the nature of the United States Government as proposed by the Constitution. Rather than a strictly national or federal constitution, Madison argues, the government will be a hybrid of both, where the operation of the government will be republican but the principles of that operation will be democratic.

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From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 42 is an essay by James Madison, contending that the grant of specific powers to the federal government actually operates to limit the power of the federal government to act with respect to the states. Madison specifically argues that having national regulations on interstate and international affairs allows states to operate together without violating individual states' rules.

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Federalist No. 43, written by James Madison and titled, ""The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered," continues Federalist No. 42 on ratification. Along with specific concerns, Madison argued that a higher form of government was necessary to provide unity between states beyond the level of mere treaties between individual sovereigns.

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Federalist No. 45 was written by James Madison and published January 26, 1788 and addresses the concern of balancing the power between federal and state governments. He argued that the federal government's reach was not significantly expanding beyond a few enumerated powers, but that in order to administer its responsibilities, the federal government needed the ability to tax the citizenry.

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Federalist No. 47 was written by James Madison and addresses concerns that the proposed constitution did not provide enough separation of powers. He makes a nuanced interpretation of the writings of Montesquieu, arguing that a system of checks and balances reduces the potential for tyranny by any single branch of government.

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From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 48 is an essay by James Madison, published on February 1, 1788. This paper builds on Federalist No. 47 in which Madison argued for separation of powers; in this one he argues that the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government must not be totally divided. Madison asserts that entities of power -- especially the legislature -- will naturally seek more power and therefore, each branch of government must have checks and balances from the others.

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Federalist No. 68 was written by Alexander Hamilton and discusses the process of electing the president and vice president through an independent body of electors instead of by popular vote.

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From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 51 is an essay by James Madison, published on February 6, 1788. No. 51 addresses means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government. This is one of the most often quoted Federalist Papers for its arguments in favor of separation of powers.

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Federalist No. 70 was written by Alexander Hamilton and examines the question of a plural executive, arguing that having multiple presidents introduces conflict and difference of opinion. It is the fourth of a series of eleven essays on the executive.

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From Wikipedia: The essay was published May 28, 1788 and was written to explicate and justify the structure of the judiciary under the proposed Constitution; it is the first of six essays by Hamilton on this issue. In particular, it addresses concerns by the Anti-Federalists over the scope and power of the federal judiciary, which would have comprised unelected, politically insulated judges that would be appointed for life. He explains that there is little possibility that the judiciary would be able to overpower the executive and legislature because it depended on the other two to enact its judgments.

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From Wikipedia: Federalist No. 84, titled, "Certain General and Miscellaneous Objections to the Constitution Considered and Answered," was written by Alexander Hamilton and presented the idea that a Bill of Rights was not a necessary component of the proposed Constitution. Hamilton argued that it could be interpreted to contain the only rights granted by law or used as specious justification to grant unreasonable rights.

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Fisher Ames was a lawyer and elected official in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. At the Massachusetts state convention of 1788, Ames's persuasive oratory was influential in obtaining ratification of the federal Constitution.

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Martin's letter to the citizens of Maryland warning of entrusting too much power to the government. Martin's cynical argument cautions that governments are still made of men and are subject to human flaws. To combine those potential flaws into one government, he argues, invites the possibility of being subject to tyranny.

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Martin's extensive criticism of the Philadelphia Convention, its methods and its work. He especially focuses on the secrecy surrounding the convention and his perceptions of bias toward a large national government.

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From Wikipedia: In the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of articles, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been ratified by three quarters of the states. It responded largely to Anti-Federalists who believed that ratifying the U.S. Constitution meant surrendering basic human rights of individuals. The link below contains a list of all 27 amendments to the Constitution.

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The supreme law of the United States that provides the framework for the government. The Constitution outlines the nation's institutions of government and the most important rights of the people. The document was created in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The government created by the Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789.

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