''The Independent Journal'', occasionally known as ''The General Advertiser'', was a semi-weekly

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

journal and

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

edited and published by John McLean and Archibald McLean in the late 18th century. The newspaper's content included contemporary

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s and notices. ''The Independent Journal'' is primarily remembered for being one of several newspapers to have initially published ''

The Federalist ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The co ...

'' papers – a series of eighty-five articles and essays discussing and advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution, written by

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the f ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

and Alexander Hamilton. It became the first newspaper to publish the material when it released the first Federalist essay on October 27, 1787. The release was accompanied by the following notice: Over the following month, the next seven essays were published by ''The Independent Journal'' and two other newspapers, ''The New York Packet'' and ''The Daily Advertiser''. The essays appeared on Saturdays and Wednesdays in ''The Independent Journal'', and a few days later in the other two. Following its publication of the seventh Federalist, ''The Independent Journal'' made an announcement: In its announcement, the newspaper omitted to note its own publication dates, which continued to be on Wednesdays and Saturdays. However, the plan as outlined in ''The Independent Journal'' was not consistently followed; ''The Daily Advertiser'' stopped publishing in the agreed order after the release of the tenth essay. From November 30 onward, ''The New York Packet'' published on Tuesday and Friday, rather than only Tuesday. By January 8, 1788, thirty-six Federalist essays had been published between the newspapers. John McLean bundled these thirty-six together and published them as '' The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787'', Volume I, on March 22, 1788. Publication of the essays resumed on 11 January, and essays thirty-seven to seventy-seven were published from that time through to April 2, 1788. Before the final eight could be published publicly in the newspapers, John McLean compiled and released Volume II of ''The Federalist'' essays, which consisted of essays thirty-seven through eighty-five, on May 28, 1788. The eight unpublished essays appeared in ''The Independent Journal'' and ''New York Packet'' between June 14 and August 16.Emerson, p.260

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References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Independent Journal Newspapers published in New York City The Federalist Papers Defunct newspapers published in New York (state)