Seven Federalist Papers (Session 2)

July 21, 2020 @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm

The Federalist, or The Federalist Papers, are familiar terms to American students, (and, hopefully, most American citizens) from AP History classes forward.  They are commonly introduced as a expression – a great expression – of a coherent political theory.  The Constitution, we know, is short, and beyond the Preamble contains neither explanation nor justification for the rules it expounds.  The Federalist, we are taught, provides its theoretical basis.
But in its day, the Federalist was no book; it was a series of articles, published piecemeal over the long, glorious year of ratification debates.  It was part of a great argument, and was meant not as a reference for posterity, but as persuasive material for a vote.  It was perhaps the first political blog.
In this seminar we will read seven of these editorials, and analyze them from the points of view of its intended readers.  Why were Federalist 4-6 published before Federalist 10, or for that matter before 51?  What were the points of persuasion behind each of these papers?  What do these papers tell us about the process by which the Articles of Confederation were supplanted by the US Constitution?  What were the opposition arguments that the various essays attempted to refute – or head off?
The Federalist Papers are frequently cited by Courts, including the Supreme Court, for although they were never voted upon, and never had any legal status, they represented a form of evidence about what the Constitution meant. Accordingly, we will probe for clues that shed light on the greatest Constitutional question of the nation’s first century:  secession.
Join us, and re-enter the debate of that miraculous year, when America constituted itself.

This seminar is full.  Please register for one of our other fantastic seminars!

Our Professor:  Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University

Akhil Reed Amar is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, where he teaches constitutional law in both Yale College and Yale Law School. After graduating from Yale College, summa cum laude, in 1980 and from Yale Law School in 1984, and clerking for now-Justice Stephen Breyer, Amar joined the Yale faculty in 1985 at the age of 26. He is the winner of Yale’s DeVane Medal for teaching, and in 2017 he received the Howard Lamar Award for outstanding service to Yale alumni. He has co-led or been guest professor, for courses with the EverScholar model on several occasions over the past 5 years.