Introduction

Foreign Affairs ( Mr. Jay), notwithstanding the lukewarmness of his sympathy, was induced to undertake those portions of the discussion which related to the importance of the Union in connection with the foreign relations of the States, and to the treaty-making authority of the Senate⁠—both of them being subjects which his official position enabled him to discuss with unusual ability, without compromising in the least his general political sentiments, and without obliging him, necessarily, to assent, even by implication, to any portion of the proposed Constitution. Mr. Madison, a delegate in the Convention from the State of Virginia, and one of the most influential members of that body, was also enlisted in the work, and to him was entrusted the discussion of those branches of the subject which were particularly connected with the individual powers and interests of the states, and of the people, including popular tumults, the republican character of the proposed constitution, the authority which it proposed to delegate to the three departments of the federal government respectively, the relative influence of the proposed federal and the state authorities, and the organization and authority of