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Dec 16, 2009

Seth rated it:

Read the Federalist Papers. Then, just for kicks, switch on Hannity & Colmes, or Crossfire, or read USA Today... and then ask yourself, WHAT THE FUCKING CHRIST HAPPENED TO THIS COUNTRY? Then crawl into a corner and whimper for eight hours straight. (That's what I did.)

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2008

John rated it:

It's hard to rate a book like this. On the one hand, it's one of the foundational writings of American history; on the other hand, it's boring. Much of it is, anyway. Reading it seemed like such a good idea when I first picked it up at Barnes & Noble two or three years ago. I still think it's a book every American should read. I'm just glad I'm finished.
I was encouraged by what emerged as the worldview of these authors, as in this excerpt from Federalist 37, written by James Madison, as he More...

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Dec 17, 2009

Greg rated it:

First, I'm going to begin with a bitch.
THIS "BOOK" WAS NOT WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER HAMILTON. IT IS NOT A BOOK. IT IS A COMPILATION OF SEVERAL ESSAYS WRITTEN UNDER THE PSEUDONYM "PUBLIUS" AND THE AUTHOR(S) WERE ANONYMOUS FOR A LONG TIME.
The true authorship of these was only known several years after the fact. And took several decades after the authors had been determined to finalize exactly who wrote what.
Furthermore, virtually ever copy includes at least a cop More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 27, 2008

Jessica marked it as to-read

I don't know who's a bigger jackass: me, for never having so much as peeped at these, or the grownps at all the various schools I've attended, for not even once suggesting I should.

Actually, that's a lie. I totally do know.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 28, 2011

Ally rated it:

Praise God I'm an American. One should not be able to graduate public high schools without mastery of Basic Economics & The Federalist Papers.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2009

Taft rated it:

This is a must read for any American. It will make you think and ponder about the complexities that our Founding Fathers had to address when forming our government. Too many people today comment on what should change in our government structure not appreciating the immaculate architecture the Founders put in place. The government of the USA is one of the greatest achievements in mankind’s history. Not something to be tampered with lightly. This book should have a class all to itself in High Scho More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2009

Kelly rated it:

During South by Southwest 2003, I saw a movie called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. The movie is about President Chavez in Venezuela and the failed coup attempt on his presidency. In the background coverage of his presidency, the filmmakers recounted how as President, he encouraged his citizens to read their brand new constitution and learn it. They interviewed some Venezuelans who did not know to read, but had learned to read by reading their constitution.[return][return]I was touched by More...

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Jan 31, 2012

Laura rated it:

*This is one of the many required reads for this semester. These types of reviews will consist more of what we discussed in class than my thoughts on the work.

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. There are many highlights among the essays of The Federalist. Federalist No. 10, in which Madison discusses the means of preventing rule by majority faction and advocates a large, commercial republic, is gene More...

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Oct 17, 2011

Christopher rated it:

Don't let the 3 star rating mislead you. This is a brilliant summation of the Constitution by three of the smartest Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton (first Secretary of the Treasury), James Madison (Father of the Constitution and fourth President of the U.S.), and John Jay (first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court). It is such a shame that there are so few political geniuses in government today. The breadth of their knowledge, particularly Madison's, boggles the mind. Except for the fact tha More...

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Feb 22, 2010

John rated it:

I’ve not yet read all 82 papers in this collection, but I’m almost there! These papers were written and published in several New York newspapers between 1787 and 1789, during a period of intense debate between the writing of the U.S. Constitution and its ratification. The Federalists were in favor of ratification, while the Anti-Federalists — led by Thomas Jefferson — opposed it, largely on the grounds that it did not originally contain a Bill of Rights. These are difficult reading, but worth t More...

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Jul 23, 2010

Jeremy added it

I think a lot of this is going to seem really obvious if you're an American who payed even a little bit of attention in your high school civics class, it's in the federalist papers that you really get the meat of the arguements for the structure and function of the Constitution. I guess I found it hard to get anything really new out of these, but that's probably because things like "checks and balances," " bi-cameral legislature," and "no ex-post facto" are already More...

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Apr 23, 2010

Patrice rated it:

That I have not read this book before, that most of the people I know, including several lawyers, have never read the entire book, is an educational crime. I think it should be required reading in every high school.
It is also very current. The issue of how strong a central government the US should have is still being debated daily. After reading this I think I come down a little on the side of the anti-federalists! I was surprised. But their worst predictions have come true. The fede More...

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Aug 22, 2011

Gregory rated it:

When I read this back in the 90's I confess my motives weren't of the noble or patriotic in any fashion. I'd read an article by a then prominent columnist who said that "a person couldn't consider themselves well educated unelss they''d read The Federalist Papers." Well I was young,arrogant and vain(not much has changed but the young part)and I wanted to be seen as well educated so I bought a copy and began to read. It's not easy read,and more than once I thought about giving up and p More...

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Nov 23, 2008

Jared rated it:

Essential commentary on the U.S. federal Constitution by some of the Founding Fathers (Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay). There was substantial argument around the founding of the federal government regarding how much power the national government should have, or how much power should be reserved to the states and the people. These three men (particularly Hamilton, who wrote most of the papers) argued for a federal government with substantial power, at least compared with many o More...

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Dec 17, 2009

Steven rated it:

I did not read this collection until law school, but I have often thought that it should be required reading for every American. Quite simply, these papers are the alpha and omega to understanding the Constitution of the United States.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 19, 2011

Brandi rated it:

Written by the real fore fathers of politics in this country, it teachers a serious lesson about the structure of this government. Might take some time to absorb but it's a worth having on the shelf.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 28, 2008

bup rated it:

It's tough to get in the mindset of someone in the 1780's who really had no idea if this new government blueprint was going to more effectively administrate, while maintaining the civil liberties they had fought and some died for, or if it was leading straight back into a monarchy with a different name. That's where I think you need to be to stay in this. I couldn't stay there through the whole thing, and parts of it are pretty dry.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I did get through the whole t More...

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Jan 28, 2011

Mintwitch rated it:

Civility has always been a goal in political discourse, but it's reassuring to know that our "forefathers" were no better at achieving that goal than modern politicians. The Federalist Papers includes commentary and letters, often scathing, between the men and women who wrote and debated the Constitution. Ad hominem attacks abound, as do straw men, and rabble-rousing. Sarah Palin would have been right at home among the frothing fear-mongers of the 18th century anti-Federalist movement, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 02, 2009

Erik rated it:

The Federalist Papers, this very edition, were required reading for the U.S. History and Government course mandated for all students during their junior year at Maine Twp. H.S. South in Park Ridge, Illinois, along with such documents as The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, The Constitution of the United States of America, etc. The Constitution had, of course, also been required in junior high school along with that of the State of Illinois, but I much preferred the le More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Clif rated it:

The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 essays written in 1787 and 1788 to promote the ratification of the United States Constitution. I found it to be the equivalent of reading a 600 paged legal brief written by an 18th century lawyer. Actually, that's exactly what it is. I found these lectures helpful in describing the debates that took place at the time these papers were written. I was impressed at the extent and variety of the arguments of "The Federalist Papers" in defending th More...

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Nov 14, 2011

Gary rated it:

I started reading this to learn what the founders of our nation intended when they put together the Constitution. It took me a long time to work through it. The Federalist papers are not an easy read! However, glad to have completed the task. Some of the things I've learned: our present federal government is too big. Most of the power was to reside in the states, closer to the people. The Presidency is too big, through a bloated executive branch. The military is too big; needing to be just big e More...

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Jun 27, 2011

Nick rated it:

To keep it interesting, I was on the lookout for anti-secessionist quotations. Here they are:

Hamilton (in 11), “Let the thirteen states, bound together in a strict and indissoluble Union, concur in erecting one great American system.”

Madison (in 14), “And if novelties are to be shunned, believe me, the most alarming of all novelties, the most wild of all projects, the most rash of all attempts, is that of rending us in pieces in order to preserve our liberties and promo More...

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Jun 25, 2011

Karl rated it:

After reading this for the first time straight through, I have determined two things. I am more states'-rights than federalist. One of the big mistakes made in forming a federal government was in the way senators are elected. Originally, the two senators from each state were to be chosen by the states' legislature. This would have given an enormous amount of power to state representatives and would have tied the state government more tightly to that of the national government. Why have citizens More...

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Dec 08, 2009

Briana rated it:

The Declaration of Independence is a beautiful thing. It reads like poetry...of course, that was not exactly Jefferson's intention, but that was my first impression.

My later impressions were that even though the Declaration of Independence sounds like poetry, it's also supposed to make sense and declare independence. And it does that very well indeed. I enjoyed reading this and mulling over the thoughts presented. I can almost hear Jefferson methodically stating his case through his More...

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Feb 11, 2011

Michael rated it:

It's an understandable shame that more people don't want to read this. True, it's not all that entertaining. At times, it feels like reading the most boring parts of the Old Testament. It requires a lot from the reader. But it is such an important book to read in order to understand our government and why it was structured the way it was. And ultimately, it was structured the way it was in order to protect the people's liberties. Therefore, if we don't understand this, our liberties are at risk. More...

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Aug 16, 2009

Stephen rated it:

Wow...This book has completely transformed my views and understanding of our government. The US constitution make so much more sense now that I have read its defense. It's also interesting to read some of the outlandish arguments that were propagated against this ingenious document. Not much has changed in American politics over the centuries. Our media, pundits, and politicians still banter in much the same way today as they did back in the 1780's.

I will admit that this book cha More...

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Apr 01, 2011

Lisa rated it:

I just finished this book after a long hiatus. It took me awhile to figure out a strategy for reading it, which for me turned out to be reading one chapter a day. Once I approached it that way, I found it to be fascinating, inspiring and eye-opening. Reading it now in the midst of so many debates about the proper role of each of the branches of government as they address domestic and international issues has been very interesting. The thoroughness of the analysis is very impressive. Madison More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 30, 2008

Paula rated it:

I spent some part of the day yesterday reviewing my marked up copy of the Federalist Papers. Hamilton's eloquence makes the dry facts of political theory not only palatable, but delicious. Here is a sampling:

"It will be forgotten, on the one hand, that jealousy is the usual concomitant of love, and that the noble enthusiasm of liberty is apt to be infected with a spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust. On the other hand, it will be equally forgotten that the vigour of governmen More...

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Feb 27, 2008

Doug rated it:

I must mention that I have not read all of this book yet. I have read about 20 of these papers (starting with the ones that interest me the most), and I have really enjoyed it.

The first paper I read (either #10 or #78, I forget exactly which) it felt a little bit like getting intellectually kicked in the head. I mean, I would read a single paragraph and think "what?" and read it again and still have no idea what it was talking about. After getting my 1828 Webster diction More...

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Feb 02, 2012

Jamie rated it:

Definitely worth the read, though it is tough going in places. I listened to it as an audio book, so that helped. These guys are very persuasive arguers. At least Madison and Hamilton are. Can't say I was too impressed with Jay. I wonder whether they could have argued just as convincingly against a constitution...

Among the things that caught my attention:
The authors argue:
-for the power of judicial review. I had been under the impression that at the Marbury v. Madison dec More...

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