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Anti-Federalists, a loose political coalition of popular politicians, such as Patrick Henry, who, fearing the authority of a single national government, unsuccessfully opposed the strong central government envisioned in the U.S. Constitution of 1787 and whose agitations led to the addition of a Bill of Rights.
- Patrick Henry – Tyranny and Loss of Liberty.
- Samuel Adams – Consolidation of Power. Revolutionary firebrand Massachusetts senator Samuel Adams vehemently disagreed with the Constitution’s attempt to centralize federal authority.
- George Mason – Lack of Term Limits and Bill of Rights. Richie Three delegates to the Constitutional Convention, including George Mason, adamantly refused to sign the final document because they strongly disagreed with several of its most important provisions.
- Henry Lee – End of State Sovereignty. Richard Henry Lee, a well-known anti-federalist author, hated how the Constitution weakened state sovereignty and independence.
Liberalism. Republicanism. Politics of the United States. Political parties. Elections. Anti-Federalism was a late-18th-century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution.
- 1789; 234 years ago
- Patrick Henry
- 1787; 236 years ago
- Patriots
May 11, 2018 · Anti-Federalists, in American history, opponents of the adoption of the federal Constitution. Leading Anti-Federalists included George Mason [1], Elbridge Gerry [2], Patrick Henry [3], and George Clinton [4].
The Anti-Federalists. ‘The Looking Glass for 1787’, a pessimistic cartoon about the new nation. Those who did not support the Constitution came to be known as Anti-Federalists or ‘states-rights men’ and their most notable representative was Patrick Henry (who had refused to attend the Convention because of his suspicion of it, declaring ...
Who were the Anti-Federalists? The Anti-Federalists opposed the new Constitution. The Anti-Federalist camp included a group of founding-era heavyweights, including: Virginia’s George Mason, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee; Massachusetts’s Samuel Adams, Elbridge Gerry, and Mercy Otis Warren; New York’s powerful Governor George Clinton
Among the Antifederalists were prominent revolutionaries such as Virginia Governor Patrick Henry and state delegate Richard Henry Lee. Others like Elbridge Gerry and George Mason had been champions of the revolution but were now taking aim at the proposals for upending the confederation.
