In an effort to increase the educational utility of this site, we include some features designed to provide additional information. These include definitions and comments on historical context. 

Much of the material found on this site is from original historical sources. For example, we include the entire collection of The Federalist Papers, published in 1787 and 1788. The authors of these documents had an extensive vocabulary, and freely used it. Some of the words may be unfamiliar to modern readers, and some, while still in common usage, may be unfamiliar to the general reader. For any word that we feel may be unknown to a sizable number of readers, we include a definition. When you see the dictionary icon, like this: , hold your mouse over the word and a tool tip will be presented with a simplified pronunciation and a definition. An example of this is found in Federalist No. 1, where the word aggrandize  is used.

At times, mention is made within the historical documents of people, events or locations that to the original readers would have been familiar, but the modern reader may not understand the significance. In these cases, a help icon () is presented. When hovering over these terms, some text is displayed to provide clarification as to the reason for their inclusion. An example of this is Federalist No. 4, where the Mississippi  river is mentioned. While many people are probably familiar with the Mississippi river, they may not know the reason for its mention in this article.