Anti Federalists Dbq

The Anti-federalist were the people who opposed the sanction of the constitution. They were Samuel Adams and John Hancock etc. They believed that the ratification of the constitution will lead to corruption and abuse of power by the government. The suggested constitution did not benefit the people as it should and did not have an assurance of the people’s right to assembly or bear arms. Anti-federalist believed in controlling government authority, therefore with the assumption that the new ratification will be most favorable to the wealthy, it was a threat to their beliefs— meaning that the poorer citizens will not be able to exercise their liberty for fear of double standard by the elite rulers. Most Anti-federalist were farmers and lower class citizens, so we could understand why they were intimidated by the rich and powerful Federalist— who had backgrounds of educations and could have easily manipulate the system for their own gratification.

The Federalists and the Anti - Federalists played an indispensable part in the establishment of the American Constitution. Federalists were supporters of the constitution, while Anti federalist were against the ratification of the Constitution. Federalists believed in the idea of a larger heterogeneous republic whereas anti federalists wanted a small homogenous republic. Famous federalists like James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton are responsible for giving us paramount pieces of historic documents in the form of “the Federalist papers”. The Federalist papers were 85 documents urging the ratification of the US Constitution. Anti federalist side included people like Samuel Adams, George Mason and Patrick Henry, and they believed the Articles of Confederation should be altered rather than completely changed in the form of the Constitution. Concurring with the Federalist side, it is imperative to see that the Federalists’ argument was more viable, due to the fact that larger republics and “checks and balances” are useful tools in controlling a democracy. We can’t compare ourselves to the way Sparta and Athens operated. Our country would thrive more under a stronger national government rather than a stronger state government.

Although, the Federalists failed, they did have a few accomplishments during their run, including the organization of the surviving administrative machinery of national government, the establishment of traditions of federal budgetary integrity and credit competence, and the initiation of the important doctrine of noninterference in foreign affairs. Anti-Federalists were those who opposed everything that the federalists stood for, including their plan to create a strong U.S. federal government, and the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-Federalists were known to be unorganized compared to the Federalists, but they did have a great group of leaders who were significantly well known in state politics. The political elites of the Anti-Federalists included a wide range from James Winthrop in Massachusetts to George Mason of Virginia. These Anti-Federalists were also accompanied by a large group of normal Americans who were dominate in rural areas. The proposed Constitution was thought by the Anti-Federalists to be threatened to lead to political

During the 1800 -1900 centuries there were different ideas that caused a division through the United States. These two parties were the federalist and the anti- federalists.The federalist were led by Alexander Hamilton and James Adams.while the anti federalists were led Patrick Henry and Sam Adams. Each of these party had different ideas on how government should be governed. The anti federalists feared a strong federal government they mainly wanted to focus on the state's right, while the federalists were for a strong central government and favored a decentralized national government. Yet each of these ideas and debates lead to the formation of the party system. Thus the federalist vs. anti federalist debate over the ratification of constitution

The Anti-Federalist put up a long and hard fight, however, they were not as organized as the Federalists. While the Anti- Federalist had great concerns about the Constitution and National government, the Federalist had good responses to combat these concerns. The Federalist were and for the Constitution and feel the Article of Confederation were not worth ratifying, these should be scrapped altogether. They felt that the Articles limited the power of congress, because congress had to request cooperation from the states. Unlike the Anti-Federalist, the Federalist organized quickly, had ratifying conventions, and wrote the Federalist papers to rebut the Anti- Federalist arguments.

The Anti-Federalist party was made up of people who, for the most part, lived in the country. They were opposed to developing a federal government, and they did not want to ratify the Constitution, which, they claimed, threatened each free person’s liberites, until the authors included the Bill of Rights. (This granted individual rights of citizens. The Anti-Federalists wanted to write down these so that they could not be taken away from the people by the government like England had done.) Instead, they wanted the state governments to keep the power to prevent monarchies and dictatorships. Famous members of this party were Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, Mercy Otis Warren, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee, and James Monroe. They favored the Articles of Confederation. However, the Articles of Confederation had a few flaws: if a law was to pass, it would need a majority rule (9/13); it lacked a court system (nationally); and it was missing an executive branch. The Bill of Rights was appreciated because they wanted to make sure that individual rights could not be taken away. The Anti-Federalists may not have been a group that agreed with one another all the time, but as their opinions varied, more rights were thought of and protected. For example, one part of the group held the view that the sovereignty of states could be endangered

Anti-Federalist concerns raised during the ratification process lead to the creation of the Bill of Rights. Without everyone on his side, Madison could not ratify the constitution. So in order to gain support from the Anti-Federalists he promised them that he would enact a Bill of Rights that would eventually give them their freedom.

In the late 1700’s and the early 1800’s, America was still brand new and just starting to evolve its government. George Washington had been elected President in 1789 and had set many precedents for future Presidents to come. Two years prior to that political parties started to form. The first political party ever were the Federalists. The Federalist were the people that supported the Constitution and believed in a strong central government. Soon after that a new group formed called the Anti-Federalists who also supported the Constitution, but a stricter interpretation of it focused towards strong states governments. The Anti-Federalists rallied behind Thomas Jefferson and soon changed their name to Democratic-Republicans. Political parties were bad for early America because they symbolized the opposite of what America was supposed to be founded on--people relied on deceit, often turned to violence, and the country divided over

Several different viewpoints on how the Constitution should be shaped can often cause conflicting outcomes. The main topic the argument is if a bill of rights is really necessary. Federalist, a person who supports a system of government, and the Anti-Federalist, who opposes the creation of a stronger government, both have strong feelings towards the idea of a bill of rights. Federalist label the bill "unnecessary" to the Constitution, while Anti-Federalist says it is exactly what the constitution needs. While the Federalist did make some interesting points, the Anti-Federalist won the argument regarding the need for a bill of rights.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the main advocates for the Democratic-Republican party. He believed in representing the people, especially those who were farmers and any American who was not wealthy. Jefferson was a constant opposer for any attempts at implementing policies that were against his political views. These mainly revolved around the idea of straying from the Constitution; not having his view of being a strict constructionist. Madison as well came into presidency claiming that he supported the anti-federalist views.

After the Constitution was composed and signed in 1787, there was still the pressing need for ratification. Nine of Thirteen states had to agree to its terms before the document would become binding. In the months that followed, the people who staunchly opposed the new constitution, and the people who supported began to write articles defending their positions. They were named the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists, however, were incredibly displeased with the name that the Federalists had coined for them. In that time, Federalism was synonymous with Confederation, which was what the Anti-Federalists were fighting to protect. The arguments were varied, and consisted of valid points from both sides. One of the major arguments of the Anti-Federalists was the supposed validity of a large scale republic. They were skeptical that such a thing could be successfully executed. They wrote about their concerns, worrying about liberty, state and individual, and delegation. James Madison, in Federalist 10, refuted their claims about these issues, and brought about solid reasoning for his desired large republic. While the Anti-Federalists made sound arguments for small republics in terms of liberty and representation, Madison provided better evidence on the sustainability of a large republic.

The Antifederalists were obviously opposed to the Constitution, and they were in full support of the Articles of Confederation. The Antifederalists leaders, like Patrick Henry, believed the Constitution challenged individual’s liberty. The Antifederalists acted in factions. As the Federalists believed in a strong central government, the Antifederalists thought this would get in the way of state sovereignty. Furthermore, other factions within the Antifederalists believed a strong, central government would reflect the government of Great Britain, in which they were trying to get away from. Patrick Henry publicly spoke out against the Constitution claiming it would give the States very limited power. The Constitution was to contain a president, army, and the power to tax. Henry and others viewed this as basically Great Britain. They were afraid that the

The founding of the American government is often portrayed as being a fairly effortless transition after the bitter fight that was the Revolutionary war. This, however, is extremely inaccurate as it took years of discussion and revision to create a system that benefited the American people. The Constitution was crucial to this and ended up separating the country into the Federalist and Antifederalist parties. In order to convince both the public and their counterparts of their side each party wrote a series of documents explaining their opinions. They became known as the Federalist and Antifederalist papers and were important fundamental components to the Constitution’s ratification. The Federalist and

Since the creation of American government, conflicting beliefs have arisen on how the government should be maintained. The building blocks of American government were created from ongoing conflict between the Federalists and the Anti Federalists. The Federalists advocated that the federal courts should have limited jurisdiction. At the same token, Federalists felt that federal courts were necessary to provide checks and balances on the power of the other two branches of government. Moreover, the Federalists believed the federal courts would protect citizens from governmental abuse, and solidifying the pretense that Americans are free individuals. On the posting spectrum stood the Anti Federalists. The Anti-Federalists believed the Constitution

There were some people who opposed to the Constitution because they felt that a national government was a risk to a person’s individual rights, these people were labeled or referred to as Anti-Federalists. Then there were the Federalist whose belief were in separate governments; state, local, and national governments with state sovereignty. (Schweikart, Allen 2004 pg 125). The, Federalists were in complete opposite of the Anti-Federalists unlike, the Anti-Federalists the, Federalists were in full support of the Constitution.