Colleen Sheehan, Arizona State University Professor, discusses the early life and times of the Federalist's three authors. She explains how their lives challenged their writing and thinking. Plus their lasting legacy today.

In September 1787, the newly drafted Constitution of the United States was sent to the states for ratification. Responding to initial public criticism of the document, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay - under the collective pseudonym "Publius" - wrote a series of 85 essays to promote the ratification of the Constitution. The essays were first published in several New York newspapers and were later combined into a book titled The Federalist. Today, the original essays are commonly referred to as The Federalist Papers.

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