Original meaning
Originalists of all stripes cite "The Federalist Papers". It is fairly tenuous to suggest that this represents a good source for the original "intent": after all, Alexander Hamilton, who wrote the majority of those essays, was absent for the greater part of the Philadelphia Convention, and John Jay did not attend it at all. However, James Madison, the principal framer of the Constitution also wrote a substantial amount of "The Federalist Papers". Also, to suggest Hamilton and Jay's absence from the convention implies their ignorance as to the Constitution's original meaning is demeaning to those two men and inaccurate. The collected anti-Federalist papers, of course, will be no use at all to a person searching for the original "intent" of the framers. However, as evidence of how a reasonable person at the time would have understood the words of the Constitution, "The Federalist Papers" and the anti-Federalist essays are evidence of direct relevance.
Secession in the United States
According to historian John Ferling, by 1786 the Union under the Articles was falling apart. James Madison of Virginia and Alexander Hamilton of New York—they who joined together to vigorously promote a new Constitution—urged that renewed stability of the Union government was critically needed to protect property and commerce. Both founders were strong advocates for a more powerful central government; they published "The Federalist Papers" to advocate their cause and became known as the federalists. (Because of his powerful advocacy Madison was later accorded the honorific "Father of the Constitution".) Ferling wrote: