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The authors of The Federalist intended to influence the voters to ratify the Constitution. In Federalist No. 1, they explicitly set that debate in broad political terms:

It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies

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Because the essays were initially published in New York, most of them begin with the same salutation: "To the People of the State of New York".

At times, three to four new essays by Publius appeared in the papers in a single week. Garry Wills observes that this fast pace of production "overwhelmed" any possible response: "Who, given ample time could have answered such a battery of arguments? And no time was given."[

The collection was commonly known as The Federalist until the name The Federalist Papers emerged in the twentieth century.