Federalist No. 74
Encyclopedia
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
by Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
and the seventy-fourth of the Federalist Papers
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788...
. It was published on March 25, 1788 under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Publius, the name under which all the Federalist Papers were published. Its title is, "The Command of the Military and Naval Forces, and the Pardoning Power of the Executive", and it is the eighth in a series of 11 essays discussing the powers and limitations of the Executive branch.
In this paper, Hamilton justifies the President's status as the commander of the militia, as well as the President's power to grant pardons.