the federalist papers were a series of essays about the united states constitution. in total, there were 85 articles, 77 of them appeared in newspapers between october of 1787 and august 1788. many talked about how the constitution would solve america's political problems. most of them were published in newspapers in new york and virginia, states where it was not clear whether or not the constitution would pass (it did). most were written by alexander hamilton or james madison, though a few were written by john jay.