During the debates over the design and ratification of the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

, in 1787 and 1788, a large number of writers in the popular press used pseudonym

Pseudonym

A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

s. This list shows some of the more important identities and the probable real authors (where known); question marks indicates attributions that should be regarded with greater caution and skepticism.

Pseudonym	Author	Notes
A.B.	Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson Francis Hopkinson , an American author, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey. He later served as a federal judge in Pennsylvania...	Federalist.
Agrippa	James Winthrop James Winthrop James Winthrop wrote the Letters of Agrippa which appeared in the Massachusetts Gazette. He was part of the anti-federalist movement....	Eighteen essays appeared under this name in the Massachusetts Gazette between November 23, 1787 and February 5, 1788.
Alfredus	Samuel Tenney Samuel Tenney Samuel Tenney was a United States Representative from New Hampshire. Born in Byfield, Massachusetts, he attended Dummer Academy there and graduated from Harvard College in 1772. He taught school at Andover and studied medicine, beginning practice in Exeter, New Hampshire. He was a surgeon in the...	Federalist.
Americanus	John Stevens, Jr.
Aristedes	Alexander Contee Hanson Alexander Contee Hanson Alexander Contee Hanson was an American lawyer, publisher, and statesman. He represented the third district of Maryland in the U.S. House, and the state of Maryland in the U.S. Senate....	Federalist.
Aristocrotis	William Petrikin	Anti-Federalist.
An Assemblyman	William Findley William Findley William Findley was an Irish-born farmer and politician from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He served in both houses of the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House from 1791 until 1799 and from 1803 to 1817.-Early years:William Findley was born in Ulster, Ireland and...
Brutus	Robert Yates Robert Yates (politician) Robert Yates was a politician and judge well known for his Anti-Federalist stances. He is also well known as the presumed author of political essays published in 1787 and 1788 under the pseudonyms "Brutus" and "Sydney"...	Anti-Federalist. After Marcus Junius Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name... , a Roman republican involved in the assassination of Caesar. Published sixteen essays in the New York Journal between October 1787 and April 1788.
Caesar	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... ?
Candidus	Benjamin Austin
Cato	George Clinton George Clinton (vice president) George Clinton was an American soldier and politician, considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was the first Governor of New York, and then the fourth Vice President of the United States , serving under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. He and John C...	Anti-Federalist.
Centinel	Samuel Bryan Samuel Bryan Samuel Bryan was a Pennsylvanian Anti-Federalist author, who wrote during the American Revolution. Historians generally ascribe to him the Letters of Centinel written under the pseudonym Centinel between 1787 and 1789. Centinel attacked the proposed Constitution of the United States as a document...	Alternately, the author possibly was George Bryan George Bryan George Bryan was a Pennsylvania businessman, statesman and politician of the Revolutionary era. He served as the first Vice-President of Pennsylvania and its second President following the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain... .
Cincinnatus	Arthur Lee Arthur Lee (diplomat) Dr. Arthur Lee was an American diplomat during the American Revolutionary War. He was the son of Hon. Thomas Lee and Hannah Harrison Ludwell...	After Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. Six essays addressed to James Wilson James Wilson James Wilson was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. Wilson was elected twice to the Continental Congress, and was a major force in drafting the United States Constitution...  appeared under this name in the New York Journal beginning November 1, 1787.
A Citizen of America	Noah Webster Noah Webster Noah Webster was an American educator, lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author...
A Citizen of New Haven	Roger Sherman Roger Sherman Roger Sherman was an early American lawyer and politician, as well as a founding father. He served as the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, and served on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and was also a representative and senator in the new republic...
A Columbian Patriot	Mercy Warren
A Countryman	Roger Sherman Roger Sherman Roger Sherman was an early American lawyer and politician, as well as a founding father. He served as the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, and served on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and was also a representative and senator in the new republic...
A Country Federalist	James Kent James Kent James Kent was an American jurist and legal scholar.-Life:...
Crito	Stephen Hopkins Stephen Hopkins (director) Stephen Hopkins is a Jamaican-born film director and producer. He is best-known for his continuation of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise with A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and the Predator franchise with Predator 2...
Examiner	Charles McKnight Charles McKnight Charles McKnight was an American physician during and after the American Revolutionary War. He served as a surgeon and physician in the Hospital Department of the Continental Army under General George Washington and other subordinate commanders...
Federal Farmer Federal farmer The Federal Farmer was an Anti-Federalist who wrote a methodical assessment of the proposed United States Constitution that was among the more important documents of the constitutional ratification debate. The assessment appeared in the form of two pamphlets, the first published in November 1787...		Anti-Federalist. The Federal Farmer letters are frequently attributed to Richard Henry Lee Richard Henry Lee Richard Henry Lee was an American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and his famous resolution of June 1776 led to the United States... , but modern scholarship has challenged Lee's authorship.
Foreign Spectator	Nicholas Collin
Genuine Information	Luther Martin Luther Martin Luther Martin was a politician and one of United States' Founding Fathers, who refused to sign the Constitution because he felt it violated states' rights...
Harrington	Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
Helvidius Priscus	James Warren
An Independent Freeholder	Alexander White Alexander White (Virginia) Alexander White was an American planter, lawyer, and politician from Frederick County, Virginia. He was a delegate to the Virginia Convention in 1788 that ratified the U.S. Constitution and represented Virginia in the U.S. House from 1789 to 1793...
John DeWitt
A Landholder	Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth was an American lawyer and politician, a revolutionary against British rule, a drafter of the United States Constitution, and the third Chief Justice of the United States. While at the Federal Convention, Ellsworth moved to strike the word National from the motion made by Edmund...	Thirteen essays, some of the most widely circulated commentary on the proposed Constitution, appeared under this name, with the first publication coming in the Hartford papers. The essays were certainly written by one of the Connecticut delegates to the Convention, and Ellsworth is the only likely possibility.
Marcus	James Iredell James Iredell James Iredell was one of the first Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was appointed by President George Washington and served from 1790 until his death in 1799...
Margery	George Bryan George Bryan George Bryan was a Pennsylvania businessman, statesman and politician of the Revolutionary era. He served as the first Vice-President of Pennsylvania and its second President following the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain...
An Officer of the Late Continental Army	William Findley William Findley William Findley was an Irish-born farmer and politician from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He served in both houses of the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House from 1791 until 1799 and from 1803 to 1817.-Early years:William Findley was born in Ulster, Ireland and...
A Pennsylvania Farmer	John Dickinson John Dickinson (delegate) John Dickinson was an American lawyer and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. He was a militia officer during the American Revolution, a Continental Congressman from Pennsylvania and Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, President of...
Philadelphiensis	Benjamin Workman
Philo-Publius	William Duer William Duer (1747-1799) William Duer was a British-born American lawyer, developer, and speculator from New York City. A Federalist, Duer wrote in support of ratifying the United States Constitution as "Philo-Publius." He had earlier served in the Continental Congress and the convention that framed the New York...
Phocion	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...
A Plain Dealer	Spencer Roane Spencer Roane Spencer Roane was a Virginia lawyer and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and as a judge of the state's highest court.Roane was born in Essex County, Virginia, on April 4, 1762...
A Plebian	Melancton Smith Melancton Smith Melancton Smith was a New York Delegate to the Continental Congress. His first name is sometimes spelled "Melanchthon"; it derives from Philipp Melanchthon, the leader in the Reformation....
Publius	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... , James Madison James Madison James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United... , John Jay John Jay John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....	After Publius Valerius Publicola Publius Valerius Publicola Publius Valerius Publicola was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year of the Roman Republic... . Under this name the three men wrote the 85 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... . Hamilton had already used the name in 1778.
A Republican Federalist	James Warren
Rough Hewer	Abraham Yates Abraham Yates Abraham Yates was an American lawyer and civil servant from Albany, New York.-Biography:He was baptised August 23, 1724 in Albany, New York, the son of Christoffel Yates and Catelyntje Winne....
Senex	Patrick Henry Patrick Henry Patrick Henry was an orator and politician who led the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and subsequently, from 1784 to 1786... ?	Published an article in the Virginia Independent Chronicle, August 15, 1787, which was reprinted in four states. James McClurg James McClurg James McClurg was a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention. McClurg was an established physician in Virginia who was educated at the College of William and Mary and took his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh. He was a fellow student with Thomas Jefferson. He practiced first in...  wrote that the author was "supposed by some to be Mr. H---y."
The State Soldier	St. George Tucker St. George Tucker St. George Tucker was a lawyer, professor of law at the College of William and Mary, and judge of Virginia's highest court. In 1813, upon the nomination of President James Madison, he became the United States district judge for Virginia.-Early life:Born in St. George, Bermuda, near Port Royal...
Sydney	Robert Yates Robert Yates Robert Yates is the name of:* Robert Yates , NASCAR team owner** Robert Yates Racing, the team he owns* Robert Yates , Anti-Federalist American politician* Robert Yates , New Zealand cricketer...
Timoleon		After Timoleon Timoleon Timoleon , son of Timodemus, of Corinth was a Greek statesman and general.As the champion of Greece against Carthage he is closely connected with the history of Sicily, especially Syracuse.-Early life:...  of Corinth.
Tullius	George Turner George Turner (jurist) George Turner was an English-born soldier, land speculator, and jurist from South Carolina.Little is known about Turner's personal life. In the American Revolutionary War , he served in the 1st South Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army, rising to the rank of captain... ?