What Can We Learn from The Federalist Papers?
Fall, 2022
https://bodoc.net/lag/y220601federalist/

I. The Historical Context of The Federalist Papers
	-The authors and their goals
	-The Articles of Confederation and the politics of 1788-1789 
	-The political context of the publication of the Papers 
	-The language and style of the Papers
	-The authorship and publication of the P apers
II. The Political Philosophy of the Authors
	-The authors' view of human nature 
	-Their view of "good government"
	- The authors' main arguments in support of ratification
	-The authors' understanding of "republican government" 
III. The Structure and Organization of the Papers
	-The dominant themes of the Papers
	-The authors' arguments evaluated
	- Questions about vocabulary and style

IV. The Most Important Papers 
	-Number 10 - The nature of politics (Madison)
	- Number 23 - The need for an energetic government  (Hamilton)
	- Number 47 - Separation of powers (Madison)
	-Number 51 - Checks and balances (Madison)
	-Number 78 - Judicial review (Hamilton)
V. The Importance and Impact of the Papers
	- Circulation and readership of the Papers
	- The Papers' impact on the ratification process
	- The invocation of the Papers in American history
	- The Papers in the judicial process
VI. The Federalist Papers in the Era of Trump
	- Were the authors were right about human nature? 
	- Did the authors misjudge the American character?
	- What would the authors of the Papers think of Trump?
	- Should (selected numbers of)The Federalist be taught in 	  	  secondary school?