The anti federalists were mainly apprehensive about the Constitution, because they favored strong state governments and felt that the Constitution
Anti-federalists. The Anti-federalists were the founders of popular democracy in the United States. 4 The Anti-federalists denounced the proposed Constitution as a betrayal of the democratic spirit of 1776 and the American Revolution itself.
The Federalists of the convention were in favor of the ratification of the Constitution. They believed that the national government must be strong in order to function and to control uncooperative states, which could protect the rights of the people. They also believed that the Constitution and state government protected individual freedoms. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists opposed a strong central government, particularly a standing army. They believed it threatened state power along with the rights of the common people.
Overall their main goal was to have a Constitution. The anti-federalists were the group that disagreed with having a strong national government, as they wanted a strong state government for their own benefits and a weaker national government. John Hancock was one of the main supporters in keeping a powerful state government, or what they thought was one. The main supporters of this atrocious idea were mostly dominated by the farmers and people living in rural areas.
According to Saul Cornell, the struggle between the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist over the constitution is one of the “greatest political struggles in American history”. (Cornell, 2012) From what I gather the men who were called the Anti-Federalist are the real Federalist because they cared about the rights of the people and wanted to protect them from an all-powerful government and give more power to the states to care for their own people. They believed that citizens should be included in decisions and that when they weren’t included into decision making procedures the government would become detached from their citizens. (Borowiak, 2007).
The Federalists wanted a strong central government. The Anti- Federalists claims Constitution gives the central government too much power and, and they worried about the new constitution will not give them any rights. That the new system threatened freedom; Also, threatened the sovereignty of the states and personal liberties; failed to protect individual rights. Besides, some of famous peoples such as " Patrick Henry" and artists have came out against the Constitution. Although the anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in stopping the passage of the Constitution, their efforts have been responsible for the creation and implementation of the Bill of
Under the guidance of Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, Federalists became a popular political party at the end of George Washington’s term. As a proud Federalists in The United Stated under George Washington, a numerous amount of hypocrisy has consumed the population on, “What were Federalists’ views?” A Federalist strongly believed in the power of the national government because the central government would have yielded stability to the country. Instead of a democracy or popular sovereignty, an “aristocratic leadership,” would better lead the nation (History in the Making - Chapter 10).
Let me start with what Antifederalist are: The Antifederalists were a diverse coalition of people who opposed ratification of the Constitution. Although less well organized than the Federalists, they also had an impressive group of leaders who were especially prominent in state politics. In the approval debate, the Anti-Federalists conflicted the Constitution. Anti-federalists complained that the new system threatened liberties, and failed to protect individual rights.
Anti-Federalists wanted the complete opposite of the Federalists. Anti-Federalists were for power of the states and not the government. They believed in the Articles of Confederation that the Constitution wouldn’t defend individual rights. Anti-Federalists such as John Hancock, Patrick Henry and George Mason argued that the Constitution did not include the Bill of Rights and the government had way too much
A federalist is defined as a person that believes in the Constitution as it is, and argues for ratification. An anti-federalist, however, believes that there needs to be adjustments within the Constitution. While both the anti-federalists and federalists contributed to the Constitution’s success, anti-federalists created the most conflict and elaboration of the Constitution and aimed for success in many years to come. Anti-federalists argued to include the Bill of Rights into the Constitution. George Mason describes the importance of the Bill of Rights in “Objections to the Constitution”.
Although I agree with some points of the Federalists, I mainly find the Antifederalists’ arguments more persuasive. Regarding the view of ‘The People,’ the Federalists believe that having an authority figure make decisions instead of the mass is more efficient. However, with access to education, people are educated to understand and develop their own choices instead of relying on one person to make the decisions for them. One example are the people voting in the presidential elections. The people choose who they want as the president of the country.
Beyond just believing that the Constitution should be ratified, the Anti-Federalist Party had a broad ideology that they held foremost to their cause. They believed that Congress and the Executive Branch held too much power in the federal government and over the people of the people in the United States. They thought that under the Constitution
Within today’s society individuals struggle to view one another as allies, rather people categorize other’s as being enemies. This sense of individuals being suspicious of one another is not a concept that is shocking to society. For instance, during the time of the founding father’s established the United States Constitution, there were two groups: the anti federalist and the federalist. The anti-federalist opposed the ratification of the Constitution because these people were eerie of a strong federalized government that infringed on individuals right’s. As the federalist supported the Constitution and advocated that the document protected individuals from government regulations.
Since the beginning of its creation America has been known as being the land of the free. The Anti-Federalist movement was the only way America would have kept its founding principles, and prevent the monarchy like Federalist movement from occurring, thus saving Americans freedom. Those that would be representatives in government of the United States would be composed of the rich. The rich only have their own best interests in mind and thus, silence those they are meant to be representing.
They felt the Constitution would create a system of federalism, a system in which the national government holds significant power, but the smaller political subdivisions also hold significant power. They felt the country needed a strong central government so that it didn’t fall apart. The Ant-Federalists were on the opposing side, they felt the Constitution granted the government too much power. They also felt there wasn’t enough protection of their right with an absent Bill of Rights. Another concern of the Anti-Federalists mainly came from the lower classes, from their standpoint they thought the wealthy class would be in main control and gain the most benefits from the ratification of this document.
