A nation without a national government is a terrible sight. In the winter of 1787-88, a series of eighty-five essays appeared in the New York press; the aim of the essays was to convince the citizens of the state of New York to ratify the Constitution of the United States. The three authors - Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay - were respectively the first Secretary of the Treasury, the fourth President, and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in American history. Each of them had played a crucial role in the events of the American Revolution; together, they were convinced of the necessity to unite thirteen distinct and newly independent states into a single union. Their essays advocate for a new and united nation governed by a written constitution that endures to this day. The Federalist Papers are an essential guide to the intentions of the Founding Fathers who authored them.