Once the delegates signed the U.S. Constitution, they returned to their respective states and set forth to see it ratified. But two factions had different notions. Federalists believed in a strong central government; merchants and professionals made up this faction. The opposing party, the Antifederalists, was composed of mainly farmers, many of whom owed large debts. Antifederalists were alarmed by the Constitution's first phrase of “We the people of the United States,” thinking that the Constitution might nullify the independence of the states. Antifederalists argued that too many differing agendas in large states would make it impossible for one way to prevail. They feared a strong central government, thinking that, at some point, states' rights would become null and void.

But the Federalists accomplished a lot. They organized the administrative detail of the national government, began the liberal interpretations of the Constitution, and kept the new nation at peace with a stance of neutrality. The Federalist Papers, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, defended the new Constitution. This trio of authors wrote under the pen name of Publius. New York newspapers ran the individual papers beginning in October 1787, and the collective work was published in 1788 in book form. James Madison effectively put to rest the Antifederalist argument. He stated that its size would indeed make a central government work best (not impede its functioning) because no one special interest could gain much ground with such diversity throughout the land.

The Federalist Papers did influence New York's ratification, but did little else around the new nation. Only when they were analyzed later was their brilliance realized. The authors' outline of the U.S. Constitution helped others to further understand the intricacies of the nation's government.