The Federalist Papers

Born circa 1757 on the Caribbean island of Nevis, Alexander Hamilton was a lawyer, military commander, and statesman who was instrumental in convincing the Congress of the Confederation to draft a new Constitution. After serving as one of 55 delegates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Hamilton wrote 51 of the 85 installments of what would become known as The Federalist Papers.

While scholars consistently look to The Federalist Papers to divine Hamilton’s personal and political views on a wide range of subjects, his beliefs and philosophy are not easily reducible. At times, Hamilton speaks at great length about the people’s capacity to be led astray by their passions, spurred toward factionalist infighting or dangerous and tyrannical demagogues. This, combined with Hamilton’s dismissive attitude toward the inclusion of a bill of rights in the Constitution, has led some observers to describe Hamilton as anti-egalitarian or even anti-democratic. Yet he also wholeheartedly supported the direct election of House representatives by the people, a cornerstone of representative democracy. Hamilton also faced charges by his contemporaries and later historians of being a monarchist, given his support of a strong federal executive branch led by an “energetic” individual person.