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Some Antifederalists dropped their objections to the Constitution when they were promised that a Bill of Rights would be added. In 1791 that Bill of Rights was ratified, in the form of the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
The men who opposed the Constitution's unconditional ratification in 1787–1788 were called Anti-Federalists, although they claimed to be the true federalists and the true republicans. Contrary to common opinion, their major contribution to the American founding lies more in their critical examination of the new form of federalism and the new ...
- 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...
Feb 3, 2022 · The Anti-Federalists were a group of Americans who objected to the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and opposed final ratification of the U.S. Constitution as approved by the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
- Robert Longley
During the state ratification debates that followed the Convention, one of the central objections from the Anti-Federalists was that the consolidation of government power in a national Congress could “destroy” state legislative power. 9.
Anti-Federalists emphasized their most successful argument, that the Constitution lacked a bill of rights that protected individual liberties. After first defending the decision not to have a bill of rights, Federalists landed on a
Jul 13, 2018 · The most significant and far-reaching accomplishment of the Anti-Federalists is that the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution) was drafted and passed in large measure to satisfy objections that the Anti-Federalists raised about the proposed constitution. However, as Herbert Storing noted (1981), the Anti-Federalists ...
