John Jay

Eighty-five articles and essays by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison that interpret and promote the US Constitution.
Three of America’s Founding Fathers—Alexander Hamilton, General George Washington’s chief of staff and first secretary of the treasury; John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States; and James Madison, father of the Constitution, author of the Bill of Rights, and fourth president...

The U.S. Constitution was approved by the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787. It was to become law only if it was ratified by nine of the thirteen states. New York was a key state, but it contained strong forces opposing the Constitution. A series of eighty-five letters appeared in New York City newspapers between October, 1787 and August, 1788 urging support for the Constitution. These letters remain the first and most authoritative...