List of pseudonyms used in the American Constitutional debates


During the debates over the design and ratification of the United States Constitution, in 1787 and 1788, a large number of writers in the popular press used pseudonyms. This list shows some of the more important commentaries and the authors responsible for them. Note: the identity of the person behind several of these pseudonyms is not known for certain.
PseudonymAuthorNotes
A.B.Francis HopkinsonFederalist.
AgrippaJames WinthropEighteen essays appeared under this name in the Massachusetts Gazette between November 23, 1787 and February 5, 1788.
AlfredusSamuel TenneyFederalist.
AmericanusJohn Stevens, Jr.
AristedesAlexander Contee HansonFederalist.
AristocrotisWilliam PetrikinAnti-Federalist.
An AssemblymanWilliam Findley
BrutusRobert YatesAnti-Federalist. After Marcus Junius Brutus, a Roman republican involved in the assassination of Caesar. Published sixteen essays in the New York Journal between October 1787 and April 1788.
CaesarAlexander Hamilton?
CandidusBenjamin Austin
CatoGeorge ClintonAnti-Federalist.
CentinelSamuel BryanAlternately, the author possibly was George Bryan.
CincinnatusArthur LeeAfter Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. Six essays addressed to James Wilson appeared under this name in the New York Journal beginning November 1, 1787.
A Citizen of AmericaNoah Webster
A Citizen of New HavenRoger Sherman
A Columbian PatriotMercy Warren
A CountrymanRoger Sherman
A Country FederalistJames Kent
CritoStephen Hopkins
ExaminerCharles McKnight
Federal FarmerAnti-Federalist. The Federal Farmer letters are frequently attributed to Richard Henry Lee, but modern scholarship has challenged Lee's authorship.
Foreign SpectatorNicholas Collin
Genuine InformationLuther Martin
HarringtonBenjamin Rush
Helvidius PriscusJames Warren
An Independent FreeholderAlexander White
John DeWittAnti-Federalist. Pseudonym derives form Johan de Witt, Grand Pensionary of Holland.
A LandholderOliver EllsworthThirteen 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.
MarcusJames Iredell
MargeryGeorge Bryan
An Officer of the Late Continental ArmyWilliam Findley
An Old WhigAnti-Federalist.
A Pennsylvania FarmerJohn Dickinson
PhiladelphiensisBenjamin Workman
Philo-PubliusWilliam Duer
PhocionAlexander Hamilton
A Plain DealerSpencer Roane
A PlebeianMelancton Smith
PubliusAlexander Hamilton, James Madison, John JayAfter Publius Valerius Publicola. Under this name the three men wrote the 85 Federalist Papers. Hamilton had already used the name in 1778.
A Republican FederalistJames Warren
Rough HewerAbraham Yates
SenexPatrick Henry?Published an article in the Virginia Independent Chronicle, August 15, 1787, which was reprinted in four states. James McClurg wrote that the author was "supposed by some to be Mr. H---y."
The State SoldierSt. George Tucker
SydneyRobert Yates
TimoleonAfter Timoleon of Corinth.
TulliusGeorge Turner?