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Essay about Arguments Of Fedrealists V. Anti-Federalists

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When the members of the Constitutional Convention, after several months of vigorous debating, finally finished their work, many of the members still objected to this document. The Federalists were the group of people who desired to get the finished new constitution ratified and the Anti-Federalists were the group of people who disliked the new constitution and believed it shouldn't be ratified because it was missing several key parts. The Anti-Federalists formulated arguments based on the weaknesses they found in the new constitution and used them against the Federalists in order to gain support, while the Federalists convinced citizens of the righteousness of the new constitution in order to gain their support. The Anti-Federalists …show more content…

The Revolutionary War had recently scared citizens of a government with the ability to violate their rights. The Anti-Federalists worried that, with all the power given to it by the constitution, the executive branch would dominate the other branches. Anti-Federalists embraced a republican form of government and thought this new government would undermine the government they preferred. Civic virtue was valued by the Anti-Federalists and agrarian communities were thought to be the place most likely for citizens to possess civic virtue. Governments were thought to be best in small places because governments would be more close and representative of the people. The Anti-Federalists feared diverse communities because the government would be very far removed from the people, and possibly less interested in their needs. The Anti-Federalists united behind these major arguments in order to hopefully get the Federalists to revise the constitution and edit it according the things it was lacking. The Federalists believed that the new constitution was an outstanding document which would provide for an effective government. The advantage between these two opponents belonged to the federalists because of their idea of

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