6 The Federalist Papers

CHAPTER 6 The Federalist Papers Alexander and his friend James Madison wanted to explain exactly why America needed a strong bank and a central government. They wanted a ruling body for the country that could tax each state in order to raise money. They laid out their ideas for how the new government would work in a series of essays they called the Federalist Papers. The word federal meant an agreement between people. The word federalist meant the colonies should unite and form a more powerful

government together in addition to each state's own governing group. Alexander wanted the states to agree to one central government. The Federalist Papers called for a government with three branches: a president (executive), a congress (legislative), and a supreme court (judicial). As members of the Continental Congress, Alexander and James Madison were not allowed to talk about this subject publicly. So no one at the time knew who was writing the Federalist Papers, but everyone was reading them in the newspapers. When the Constitution for the new government was finally written, many of its ideas came from Alexander's and James's eighty-five Federalist Papers. They describe much of what our federal government is today.

The Constitution itself was written by many people working together, including James Madison, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. In order for the Constitution to become the basis of a new government, it had to be agreed to by at least

nine out of the thirteen states. People who supported the new Constitution became known as Federalists because they wanted a strong federal (united and central) government. Those who didn't want it were called Anti-Federalists. One by one, the states agreed to the new Constitution. When New York voted yes, they held a big celebration. Even though they didn't know Alexander had written many of the Federalist Papers, his defense of the Constitution was so well-known that they honored him along with it.

The new government became official in July 1788, just a few months after Alexander and Eliza had their fourth child, James. This new government would need a president, and Alexander knew exactly who it should be: George Washington. In 1789, George Washington won by a landslide. John Adams became the vice president. Washington had to choose men to help him run the government. These advisors were known as his cabinet. One of the cabinet positions was for a secretary of the treasury, who would be in charge of financial matters. Washington's first choice was Robert Morris, the former superintendent of finance. Morris turned down the job, but he suggested Alexander for the position.

The First US Election The very first presidential election was held from December 15, 1788, to January 10, 1789. Of the three million people living in the United States at that time, less than 1.3 percent voted. Votes were cast only by electors. These were men appointed or elected by each state. A state got the same number of electors as they were assigned seats in Congress. (Two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island, couldn't participate because they hadn't yet agreed to the Constitution. New York also did not vote, because it had not been able to decide on its electors.) The person who got the most votes from the state- chosen electors became president. The person who came in second, with the next largest number of votes, was elected the vice president. Washington was surprised. Even though he loved Alexander like a son, he had no idea Alexander knew anything about finances, banking, or economics! When he offered him the job, Alexander happily