History

The Federalists, the Anti-Federalists, and the Constitution They Created

ABSTRACT

This colloquium repeated a highly successful colloquium on the central debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the formative period of the United States Constitution, approaching the texts from a somewhat unique perspective: the Constitution as a product of both Federalists and Anti-Federalists, as opposed to merely the triumph of its initial champions.

READING LIST

From Liberty Fund

The Federalist

by By Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
Edited by George W. Carey and James McClellan

The Federalist, by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, constitutes a text central to the American political tradition. Written and published in newspapers in 1787 and 1788 to explain and promote ratification of the proposed Constitution for the United States, which were then bound by the Articles of Confederation,…

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Additional Readings

Allen, W. B. and Gordon Lloyd, eds. The Essential Antifederalist, Second Edition. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002.

Empire and Nation: Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (John Dickinson), Letters from the Federal Farmer (Richard Henry Lee). Edited by Forrest McDonald. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, Inc., 1999.