In relation to foreign nations, ca. 1788
Draft in John Jay's hand of Federalist Number 64, originally published on March 5, 1788 in the Independent Journal. It bore the number 63 in the newspaper version, but was renumbered 64 in the first collected edition, published 22 March 1788. Comparison with the published version shows little change in the substance of the argument for the constitutional provisions for senatorial approval of treaties. Changes in organization and wording are substantial. Jay's draft speaks of "the Convention" making certain provisions while the published essay substitutes "the Constitution." Jay's justification of the election of Senators by state legislatures is omitted in the final, published paper. In answering objections to making treaties the supreme law of the land, Jay, in his draft, cites examples of British constitutional law; in his published version, the citations refer to colonial and state practice. Jay's concluding paragraph asking for a fair trial for a constitutional plan with theoretical merits is omitted in the published essay.
