Search results
Mar 4, 2020 · The words of the Anti- Federalists give us an effective warning about the perils of a government that is no longer accountable to the people. The Federalists, in their response to the Anti- Federalists, show the proper way to maintain those checks against the progress of a government toward tyranny. The Founders’ words still have wisdom today.
- The Constitution's Alleged Deficiencies
- Leaders and Adherents
- Ratification Debate Dynamics
- Legacy
- Bibliography
The Constitution was made public in September 1787 and faced opposition almost immediately. Controversy exists over the primary motivation of the anti-Federalists. Some think they opposed the Constitution primarily for economic reasons. Others argue that they wanted to protect their own political power. Still others find that they were influenced m...
Some of the nation's best-known political leaders were among those who opposed the Constitution. Famed orator Patrick Henry led the anti-Federalists in Virginia, joined by the author of the Virginia declaration of rights, George Mason, who had attended the Constitutional Convention but refused to sign the document. Governor George Clinton organized...
Several practical matters complicated the anti-Federalists' quest to alter or defeat the Constitution. The call to form a convention came from the Federalists. They were interested in making radical changes to the structure of the national government and were highly motivated to attend the Philadelphia Convention. Anti-Federalists wanted less far-r...
Though the Constitution was ratified, the anti-Federalists did not leave the fight empty-handed. They expected that the recommended amendments would be seriously considered even though the push for a second convention failed to have an impact. Yet few anti-Federalists were elected to the new Congress. With massive Federalist majorities in both the ...
Banning, Lance. "Republican Ideology and the Triumph of the Constitution, 1789–1793." William and Mary Quarterly,3rd ser., 31 (1974): 167–188. Cornell, Saul. "The Changing Historical Fortunes of the Anti-Federalists." Northwestern University Law Review84 (1989): 39–73. ——. The Other Founders: Anti-Federalists and the Dissenting Tradition in America...
An even amount of the convention’s delegates were lawyers in practice or study and served business interests that were evenly divided among the mercantile classes in the North and the more agrarian ones in the South. The institution of slavery, of course, played a major factor in weighing concessions towards the southern states.
This lesson focuses on the chief objections of the Anti-federalists, especially The Federal Farmer (Richard Henry Lee), Centinel, and Brutus, regarding the extended republic. Students become familiar with the larger issues surrounding this debate, including the nature of the American Union, the difficulties of uniting such a vast territory with a diverse multitude of regional interests, and ...
Article V. The section of the Constitution that details how to amend the Constitution, either through a congressional proposal or a convention of the states, with final ratification from three-fourths of the states. Great Compromise. Also known as the Connecticut Compromise, a major compromise at the Constitutional Convention that created a two ...
- Thomas Jefferson was in severe debt for much of his life. While it is by no means excusable, I think that Jefferson kept slaves because of their ec...
- To get all 13 states to ratify the constitution they had to make compromises to get everyone to agree.I think the debates that are going on now are...
- southern states wanted slaves to count as people for population counts so they got more representatives but not for state tax purposes and the nort...
- Everybody of course wanted the best for their own state, so it was hard to get two opponents to make a deal. They all wanted the most power and rep...
The debate between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists over the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, 1787-1788. You will be reading primary sources from our Founding times, centrally the philosophical and practical debates over the United States Constitution. The language and rhetoric contained within the essays is the first challenge.
Section 2: The Anti-Federalists, Large Republics, and Federations Brutus, October 18, 1787 To the Citizens of the State of New-York. At length a Convention of the states has been assembled, they have formed a constitution which will now, probably, be submitted to the people to ratify or reject, who are the fountain of all
