First, lets dispense with the false notion that the identities of Publius were known to the readers of the NY papers the Federalist Essays published in...at the time they weren't.
But I am really interested in your assertion that the United States had a non-free government in 1787 with the underlying suggestion that the reason Madison, Hamilton and others used psydonyms was the fear of government oppression.
That's quite a novel interpretation of American history and doesn't quite explain why Publius in Federalist 84 argues against the Bill of Rights...does it?
I did not disagree with you. I think demanding someone’s name on FR is simply a silly distraction.