Compare And Contrast The Federalists And Anti-Federalists

The Federalist Party consisted of people who were very much Anglophiles. They loved Britain and all things British. The Federalists felt that there should be a loose constructionist interpretation of the constitution. They believed that there were things implied by or simply understood by the wording of the Constitution. According to the Federalists, just because something was not specifically written in the Constitution doesn't mean that it wasn't covered or addressed as something that the federal government could handle. The Federalist Party also supported a strong governmental leadership. They thought that the most important branch of government was the executive branch, and that a strong leader was needed in this office of president to make the country strong. Some important Federalist Party supporters included George Washington, John Adams, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton.

The Federalists supported the ratification of the Constitution while the Anti Federalists were against it. This boiled down to simple beliefs held by both groups. Anti Federalists believed that the Constitution gave too much power to the central government and left state governments powerless. Anti Federalists were in favor of a weaker central governments and stronger local state governments. They believed that central government was too far removed from the people, and that the nation was too large, for it to serve them on a local state basis. This resulted in the fear that people’s voices would be taken away; this fear of oppression was only increased by the fact that the Constitution didn’t include a Bill of Rights. However, Federalists believed that a strong central government, accompanied by the Constitution, was needed after the Article of Confederation failed or the nation wouldn’t survive. In the eyes of the Federalists, a Bill of Rights was not needed because the Constitution did not put any limits on the rights of the citizens; however

After the American Revolution our nation was in major debt and suffering from an ecumenic depression throughout the colonies. The debt and other fiscal issues our nation was facing made some of the founding political members to want a more focused federal power. The opinions of two groups known as the Federalists and Anti-Federalists were divided about the new proposed Constitution. The founding members known as the Federalists wanted a strong central government and weak state governments were in favor of keeping the newly proposed Constitution,whereas the opposing group of men were known as the Anti-Federalists were opposed to it. The Anti-Federalists had believed that the power should belong to the states and not the central government, and that the nation should keep the Articles of Confederation despite the fact that it had failed. In the time period of 1787-1788 the views and ideas of the Federalists would have been better than those of the Anti-Federalists for more than one reason.

n the history of the United States, the Anti-federalists were the individuals who opposed the implementation of a central federal government which would seek to oversee different operations in the country along with the ratification of the constitution. Instead, they advocated that power ought to remain within the hands of the local and state governments. Conversely, the Federalists advocated for a stronger government that would oversee the operations of all states. They also wanted the ratification of the existing constitution in order to help the government in managing its debts along with the tensions that were developing in particular states. The Federalist movement was formed by Alexander Hamilton, and it functioned as the first

Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist The road to accepting the Constitution of the United States was neither easy nor predetermined. In fact during and after its drafting a wide-ranging debate was held between those who supported the Constitution, the Federalists, and those who were against it, the Anti-Federalists. The basis of this debate regarded the kind of government the Constitution was proposing, a centralized republic. Included in the debate over a centralized government were issues concerning the affect the Constitution would have on state power, the power of the different branches of government that the Constitution would create, and the issue of a standing army. One of the most important concerns of the

The Federalists supported the United States Constitution. They supported removing powers from the states and allowing the powers to go simply into the hands of the U.S. national government. Federalists were pleased with the idea of dividing the powers among the different branches of government, such as the legislative, executive, and judicial courts. Moreover, the anti-federalists believe that the necessary political powers need to remain within the states. They want the legislative branch to hold more power than the executive branch. The anti-federalists were uneasy at the thought of having a strong central government. They formed an ideation that there would be a probability the government may or may not become a dictator or tyrant. These people against the Constitution believed that a possible Bill of Rights needed to be the new and improved addition to the United States Constitution.

Anti-Federalists and Federalists were opinionated groups who tried to sway Americans about the Constitution. Anti-Federalists opposed developing a federal government, and they did not want to ratify the Constitution. Instead, they wanted the state governments to keep the power. The Federalists disagreed because they wanted a government that was stronger on the national level and that had the Constitution to manage tensions and debts from the Revolution. They both differed in many ways, but one way that they were similar was because they had an impact on the way the Constitution was written.

While the anti-Federalists believed the Constitution and formation of a National Government would lead to a monarchy or aristocracy, the Federalists vision of the country supported the belief that a National Government based on the Articles of the Confederation was inadequate to support an ever growing and expanding nation.

The federalist had the idea that a strong central government would be necessary for a newly developed nation. In “In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.”, the federalists are basically saying that the national government has more power over the states government. Federalists also believe in a national bank and to tax

Establishing an effective system of government has proven to be an obstacle for centuries. Fortunately, the Founding Father recognized the common flaws of governments, as did many common men in the colonies. Consequently, the ratification of the constitution was vital for a healthy governmental system, though it did bring about much debate and persuasion. There were two main positions which people took during the ratification, those being the Anti-Federalist and the Federalist. The Anti-Federalist were a diverse assembly involving prominent men such as George Mason and Patrick Henry, and also the most unlikely of individuals, those being Farmers and shopkeepers. The chief complaint about the Constitution was that it confiscated the power from the sates, thereby robbing the people of their power. Oppositely, the Federalist believed in removing some control from the states and imparting that power to the national government, thus making America partially national. Throughout this debate, many letters were shared between the two sides, and eventually, it led to the federalist winning over the colonies.

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 first matter that Federalists and Anti-Federalists agreed on was that they both wanted a form of government. This means they both had a vision for this country. This vision was not the same as how what they lived before the American Independence; in fact, it was a vision that was different than anything came before. Sadly, the Federalists and the Anti- Federalists had different vision when forming a government. Federalists wanted a strong central government, and this meant unity for the country. They believed that this country should have the separation of powers and checks of balances to prevent a monarchy. The separation of powers is the

The Federalists wanted “a centralized federal system and the ratification of the Constitution … who supported a broad interpretation” (Tindall, Shi A16). The Anti-Federalists “opposed the Constitution as a limitation on individual and states’ rights” (Tindall, Shi A3). The Bill of Rights allows the United States to implement national laws, and whatever is not said is left for the states to determine, which allows a basic equality across the states but different interpretations within them. The Bill of Rights allowed a federal and state government resulting in a compromise.

The Federalists didn’t really like the state having all the power and believed that the federal government should have more power. The Antifederalists believed that the federal government shouldn’t have a lot of power, so that our government doesn’t get take over. They also believed that the states should have, according to George Bryan,” all power.” Some people thought we should have kept the articles so that we have a stronger state government. The state government in the articles had most of the power, so they had their own taxes and their own little

The Anti-Federalists argued that their form of government was more effective. They argued many points that were reasonable. Brutus wrote that he feared that our government would be controlled by a group of elites, and he thought that these elites would abuse the people’s rights by just doing what would only benefit them. Brutus thought once the elites started running our country, that they would be in power for a long time and no one could change their minds on certain views. (Brutus 1).