DISCLAIMER: I am not a historian nor a political scientist. I do have a fascination and interest in the Constitution and so I started reading the Federalist Papers and posting my interpretation on my own blog. I thought it might be of some interest here. Your interpretations and thoughts are greatly appreciated in the comments!
Federalist No. 1 here
No. 2 below the fold and previously posted on LiveJournal
You can find the Federalist Papers in their entirety at The Library of Congress website.
Federalist No. 2 was written by John Jay who served as President of the Continental Congress and was also the country's first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Federalist No. 2 is Jay's general introduction advocating for the adoption of the Constitution. His first argument concerns the necessity of government:
Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers.
He then goes on to acknowledge that there is honest disagreement about the dissolution of the Confederation for the creation of a federal government and that
Whatever may be the arguments or inducements which have wrought this change in the sentiments and declarations of these gentlemen, it certainly would not be wise in the people at large to adopt these new political tenets without being fully convinced that they are founded in truth and sound policy.
Jay then goes on to talk about how the young history of the nation was essentially one of unity. The young nation was found in a contiguous area of land. It was founded by people essentially of a common heritage. He notes that the colonies decided to form this union in a turbulent time, under attack by Britain, with their liberty at stake. Jay then claims that given the circumstances of the founding of the nation it is no wonder that the original government was flawed and needed to be changed.
Next Jay addresses the competence of the men that drew up the Constitution and why they should be trusted:
This convention composed of men who possessed the confidence of the people, and many of whom had become highly distinguished by their patriotism, virtue and wisdom, in times which tried the minds and hearts of men, undertook the arduous task. In the mild season of peace, with minds unoccupied by other subjects, they passed many months in cool, uninterrupted, and daily consultation; and finally, without having been awed by power, or influenced by any passions except love for their country, they presented and recommended to the people the plan produced by their joint and very unanimous councils.
[snip]
These and similar considerations then induced the people to rely greatly on the judgment and integrity of the Congress; and they took their advice, notwithstanding the various arts and endeavors used to deter them from it. But if the people at large had reason to confide in the men of that Congress, few of whom had been fully tried or generally known, still greater reason have they now to respect the judgment and advice of the convention, for it is well known that some of the most distinguished members of that Congress, who have been since tried and justly approved for patriotism and abilities, and who have grown old in acquiring political information, were also members of this convention, and carried into it their accumulated knowledge and experience.
Because these same men who formed the Union at the Continental Congress had gotten it right and had seen the young nation through the fight for independence, they should again be trusted to form an even stronger federal government.
Jay closes this paper by reaffirming the notion that the young nation would be much stronger as a federal government than a loose confederation:
I am persuaded in my own mind that the people have always thought right on this subject, and that their universal and uniform attachment to the cause of the Union rests on great and weighty reasons, which I shall endeavor to develop and explain in some ensuing papers. They who promote the idea of substituting a number of distinct confederacies in the room of the plan of the convention, seem clearly to foresee that the rejection of it would put the continuance of the Union in the utmost jeopardy.
Jay uses the ensuing papers to expand on the reasons for the creation of a federal government instead of continuing the loose confederation.