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Framework of Government: Exercise 7 - Introduction to the Federalist Papers; Federalist #10 and Federalist #51
Instructions:
Read the passage and click on the correct answer. If wrong, try
again. Scroll down if you do not see the Answer box. Click
here to review the key terms for this exercise.
The Federalist Papers were written from 1787 to 1788 by the
Federalists, who supported a stronger central government. They were written to challenge the
arguments of the anti-Federalists, who supported a weaker national government, and to convince
the people to approve the proposed Constitution, the basic rules and principles by which a
government operates.
Before the U.S. Constitution was created, a document known as
the Articles of Confederation served as a constitution for the newly-born republic that declared
its independence from Great Britain in 1776. In addition to the state governments, there was
a national government at that time, but it was weak. The states did not want this government
to be very strong because they feared that a powerful central government might limit their
independence. This weakness of the government, together with the economic problems of the
1780s, convinced important political thinkers of the time that a constitution for a stronger
central government was needed. After the Constitution was drafted by revising the Articles
of Confederation, it had to be approved by the states. The contributors to the Papers, James
Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, wrote a series of articles to explain the need
for the Constitution and to convince the states to support it.
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Instructions:
Read the passage and click on the correct answer. If wrong, try
again. Scroll down if you do not see the Answer box. 
