The Constitutional Convention and Debates over Ratification

AP US History· difficulty 2/5

"Among the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction... By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion." — James Madison, Federalist No. 10, 1787

The Federalist essays were originally written principally to influence ratification debates in which state?

  • A

    New Hampshire

  • B

    Georgia

  • C

    Rhode Island

  • D

    New York

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Explanation

Hamilton, Madison, and Jay published the essays as "Publius" in New York newspapers in 1787-88, targeting that state's closely divided ratifying convention. Georgia and New Hampshire ratified relatively easily; Rhode Island refused to call a convention until 1790.

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