In 1787, the US Constitution was sent to the state legislatures for ratification. Intended to replace the Articles of Confederation, the new Constitution replaced the loose confederation of states with a strong Federal central government to which the states would be subordinated. The Federalist Papers were written by some of the authors of the Constitution, as a series of letters to New York newspapers, explaining how the proposed Constitution would work and why the state legislatures should vote for its ratification.
