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The article presents an exploration into the development of the concept of public opinion within U.S. political discourse during the Federalist era. Details are given noting the onset of the term and its impact in public discourse in the late 18th century, particularly as it related to economic political debate in connection to public finance issues of credit and debt. Discussion is offered mapping the correlations between the financial history of the U.S. in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War and the appropriation of "public opinion" into the political discourse of major figures such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.

The article focuses on "The Federalist," a set of essays written by U.S. founding fathers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the pseudonym Publius, published serially between October 1787 and May 1788. The author analyzes the essays as campaign documents and considers them not in light of political theory or intellectual origins, but as works whose original purpose and principal objective was to help the Federalists achieve victory in the ratification contests of 1787-1788. He further discusses Publius' various appeals to his audience by expounding the voices and the strategies of rhetoric and persuasion put to use.

The article discusses the prohibition against bills of attainder in the U.S. Constitution despite the widespread use of bills of attainder to punish loyalists to the British Empire during the American Revolution. According to the article, the delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, passed the ban on bills of attainder with little debate or dissent. According to the article, the framers of the U.S. Constitution, particularly Virginian James Madison, were concerned about the security of private property from government intervention.

The article discusses a debate within the first U.S. Congress concerning the constitutional power of the U.S. president to remove officers of the executive branch and whether the power of impeachment was the only option for removal. According to the article, the debate was sparked by a proposal by U.S. representative James Madison and Congress eventually granted the president the power to remove executive officers. The article discusses the significance to which members of Congress attached the question, particularly concerning the concept of the essentialism of the U.S. Constitution.

The article analyzes the essay "The Great Divergence Reconsidered Hamilton, Madison and U.S.- British Relations, 1783-89," by Michael Schwarz. It explains the criticism of Alexander Hamilton, first Treasury Secretary to James Madison, fourth U.S. President for his 1812 ideological confusion on the demise of Federalism due to the influenced of a Virginian sentiment by Thomas Jefferson. However, Madison and Hamilton had worked together to resolve the troubling issues of Anglo-American relations.