Federalist No. 1

Federalist No. 1
Alexander Hamilton, author of Federalist No. 1

Author	Alexander Hamilton
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Federalist
Publisher	The Independent Journal
Publication date	October 27, 1787
Media type	newspaper
Preceded by	none
Followed by	Federalist No. 2

Federalist No. 1, titled "General Introduction", is an essay by Alexander Hamilton. It is the first essay of The Federalist Papers, and it serves as a general outline of the ideas that the writers planned to explore to promote adoption of the proposed constitution of the United States. The essay was first published in The Independent Journal on October 27, 1787, under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all essays of The Federalist Papers were published.

Federalist No. 1 described the ratification debate, including Hamilton's views of civil discourse and the debate's polarizing nature. He warned that there may be bad actors in the debate, but insisted that emotion and self-interest should be disregarded in favor of reason to determine the best interest of the nation. Federalist No. 1 reflects Hamilton's belief in the viability at self-governance. The essay concludes with an outline of topics for future Federalist Papers, though not all of them were covered in the series.

Summary

Publius acknowledged the ongoing debate about the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. He commented on the decision's historical significance and insisted that the decision should be made using reason, disregarding any bias or other motivations, though he famously utters, "[B]ut this is a thing more ardently to be wished than seriously to be expected." The majority of the essay discussed at length how some men will oppose ratification for personal gain or other private motivations. Publius was concerned that the ratification debate would lead to passion taking precedence over reason, and he pleads with the reader to ignore appeals to emotion when considering the issue.

Whatever the motivation of those both for or against, he encouraged the reader to treat opposing ideas on their merits so they can be evaluated on the strength of their argument. Publius declares his own position in support of ratification, and he lists several topics to be addressed in subsequent essays:^[1]

• "The utility of the union to your political prosperity"
• "The insufficiency of the present confederation to preserve that union"
• "The necessity of a government at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the attainment of this object"
• "The conformity of the proposed constitution to the true principles of republican government"
• "Its analogy to your own state constitution"
• "The additional security which its adoption will afford to the preservation of that species of government, to liberty, and to property"

Background and publication

Federalist No. 1 was written by Alexander Hamilton. Following the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Hamilton worked with James Madison and John Jay to write a series of essays to explain the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and persuade New York to ratify it. They published these essays in New York newspapers under the shared pseudonym Publius.^[2] It was first published in the Independent Journal on October 27, 1787, followed by the Daily Advertiser and the New-York Packet on October 30.^[3]By the time the Federalist Papers began publication, the ratification debate was already a major political issue. Hamilton wrote Federalist No. 1 around the same time as the Anti-Federalist Papers were first published.^[4] The authors of the Federalist Papers did not know exactly how long the series would run when they published their first essay.^[5]

Analysis

The ratification debate

Federalist No. 1 served as an introduction to the series known as the Federalist Papers, laying out the arguments that would be forthcoming in succeeding articles.^[5] Throughout the essay, Hamilton appealed to the magnitude of the ratification decision. He presented it as a decision that could define the nature of government, not just for the American people of the time but for future societies more broadly. In his view, the formation of the American government could decide whether humanity was ready for self-governance.^[5][6] Hamilton proposed in Federalist No. 1 that ratification of the constitution would allow for a closer bond between the American people and allow the creation of a stronger national identity.^[6] He believed that maintenance of the existing union would better serve the interests of the American people and be a means to greater prosperity.^[7]

The constitution required ratification by popular conventions in each state. Federalist No. 1 presented it as an issue for the people to decide. Hamilton believed that even if the constitution was ratified, it would not be possible to maintain a stable government unless a majority of the population supported it.^[6] While not actually using the term, he invoked ideas about American exceptionalism, suggesting that the United States was developing an unprecedented government that would be replicated throughout the world.^[8] Hamilton believed that the capacity for reason to guide the creation of the American government set it apart from other nations whose governments were still largely hereditary monarchies at that time.^[9] He concluded the essay referring to "whispers" that the union was too large to manage and should be broken up into regional collections of states. He retorted that failure to ratify the constitution would end with a "dismemberment of the Union."^[10]

Addressing opponents of ratification

Hamilton's chief ideological opponents were Thomas Jefferson and the Anti-Federalists. Though Hamilton and Jefferson both believed in a sharing of power between government and the people, and both believed in the government's role in shaping the nation, Jefferson favored a smaller government overall while Hamilton favored strengthening the central government.^[11]

Hamilton addressed two types of people that opposed ratification. First, there might be some state politicians who opposed ratification because they wished to avoid losing power to the national government. Second, there could be profiteers who opposed it because they could take advantage of an unstable political environment that prevailed under the Articles of Confederation. He addressed any number of reasons, from ambition to avarice to personal animosity to party opposition that might cause someone to oppose ratification. While he questioned the motivations of those opposed to ratification, he ultimately argued that the states should put aside the question of personal morality and instead simply focus on the public good.^[12]

While opposition to the constitution might exist based on self-interest, he acknowledged that even those who supported the side that he favored could also be motivated by their own interests as well. For this reason Hamilton advocated for objectivity that he believed would logically conclude in support for ratification.^[5] Based on the Enlightenment philosophy of the day, Hamilton argued that reason alone should influence the decision to ratify, declaring his own personal motivations to be irrelevant as well.^[13] He believed that objective truth could be found even in controversial matters, while recognizing that agreement by all sides is not to be expected.^[9]

Hamilton cautioned supporters of the constitution not to behave in an unbecoming manner toward opponents and attribute negative intentions to them all. In particular, he described those who feared restrictions on liberty under the new constitution as an honest but misguided group.^[12] It was this group of honest opponents that Hamilton sought to persuade.^[14] Hamilton believed an overemphasis on liberty at the expense of good government created a "spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust" and that it was necessary to create such a passion in favor of government rather than against it.^[4]

Hamilton's urging of reason over emotion more broadly addressed his concern about political polarization and the breakdown of civil discourse.^[11] While he criticized his opponents, he also addressed the need to make an assumption of good faith in political discourse and to avoid demonization of political opponents.^[15] He expressed a dim view of those who speak in absolutes, who attribute malicious motives to political opponents, who attack opposing arguments before considering them, and who use "the loudness of their declamations and the bitterness of their invectives" to strengthen their position in political discourse. He instead argued that different people can come to different conclusions about an idea and that bad ideas do not necessarily reflect on one's personal character.^[15]

Political philosophy and forms of government

Federalist No. 1 established a style of argument based in [[Enlightenment]] philosophy.^[14] The main points set out by Federalist No. 1 followed the structure of the state of nature philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, presenting first the needs of the people and then developing the idea of government as a solution to those needs. Hobbes' view of human nature was bleak. He famously said that life in the state of nature was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." He argued for a strong state, the Leviathan, to keep human passions in check and to safeguard the rights of all. Hamilton rejected Hobbes's view of humanity and the need for a strong central state to keep people's passions and pursuit of personal interest in check. He was closer to Locke's position, who believed that human reason could override passion, arguing that many people are willing to give up personal interest for the greater good.^[12]

Hamilton's position was that the proposed constitution would strengthen the role of the central government compared to the weakness under the Articles of Confederation, but was still a form of limited government not Hobbes' Leviathan. Hamilton presented a general concept of good government in Federalist No. 1. In the wake of the failures of the Articles of Confederation Hamilton was an advocate of stronger federal government that he described as the "energetic executive." He believed that fears of despotism were disproportionate to the risk.^[11] In public life, Hamilton feared that those who took up the cause of the people and expressed concerns about government power repressing the rights of the people were the ones who were more likely to become demagogues and tyrants.^[6] He considered the alternative to strong central government to be a people whose fate is determined by "accident and force" rather than their own will,^[12] ruled arbitrarily by aristocracy, monarchy, or anarchism rather than a republic governed by reason, which he considered to be the best form of government.^[16]

Legacy

Many of the arguments and rhetorical approaches of Federalist No. 1 are expanded on throughout the series. They include the use of historical examples, the explicit challenge of opponents who opposed a stronger central government,^[5] presenting legal and moral dilemmas as having correct answers discernable through reason,^[6] acknowledging that both selfish and selfless factors would affect people's decisions,^[9] and expressing preference for disinterested leadership and strong government.^[17] Not all of the topics described in Federalist No. 1 were addressed in subsequent entries. The final entry, Federalist No. 85, included an apology for failing to cover "the analogy of the proposed government to your own state constitution" and "the additional security, which its adoption will afford to republican government, to liberty and to property."^[17]

While serving as Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton acted on his ideas of good government, expanding the scope and bureaucracy of his department. Jefferson later sought to reform many of these changes.^[11] Over the following centuries, additional major changes had to be made to the constitution, the most influential of which, the 13th and 14th amendments, came in the wake of the American Civil War, an example of the failure of reason to amicably solve political differences.^[14]

Notes

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Barber, Sotirios A. "Judicial Review and 'The Federalist'" The University of Chicago Law Review 55(3) (1988): 836–887.
• Dietze, Gottfried. The Federalist: A Classic on Federalism and Free Government. Johns Hopkins Press, 1960. ISBN 0801801680
• Epstein, David F. The Political Theory of The Federalist. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0226213002
• Hardin, Russell, "Why a Constitution?," in The Federalist Papers and the New Institutionalism edited by Bernard Grofman and Donald A. Wittman. New York, New York: Algora Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-0875860848
• Kochan, Donald J. "On the Imperative of Civil Discourse: Lessons from Alexander Hamilton and Federalist No. 1." Southern California Law Review Postscript 94 (2010): 32–43.
• Levinson, Sanford. An Argument Open to All: Reading “The Federalist” in the 21st Century. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0300199598
• Light, Paul C. "Federalist No. 1: How Would Publius Define Good Government Today?" Public Administration Review 71 (2011): s7–s14.
• Millican, Edward. One United People: The Federalist Papers and the National Idea. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2014. ISBN 978-0813160337
• Potter, Kathleen O. The Federalist's Vision of Popular Sovereignty in the New American Republic. New York, NY: LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2002. ISBN 978-1931202442
• Rakove, Jack N., and Colleen A. Sheehan (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to the Federalist Papers Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2020. ISBN 978-1107136397
• Scott, Kyle. The Federalist Papers: A Reader's Guide. London, U.K.: A&C Black, 2013. ISBN 1441185860
• White, Morton. Philosophy, The Federalist, and the Constitution. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0195059489

External links

All links retrieved September 28, 2026.

• Full text of Federalist No. 1 Avalon Project
• "Federalist Papers: Primary Documents in American History," U.S. Library of Congress
• "Federalist Essays in Historic Newspapers," U.S. Library of Congress
• The Federalist (Dawson)/1 Wikisource