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Anti federalist vs federalist
Patrick henry speech to the virginia convention rhetoric
Patrick henry SPEECHES AND WRITINGS
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In 1787, several states got together to revise the Articles of Confederation. By doing this they changed the course of our history. Anti-Federalists were against the ratification of the constitution while Federalists were working towards it. Federalists were trying to convince everyone about the benefits of checks and balances. After the Bill of Rights was added to the constitution, citizens were more at ease about the ratification process. Anti-Federalists are those who are against the idea of the Constitution. They objected to the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and opposed final ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Patrick Henry, a strong-headed Anti-Federalist, brought up many points pertaining the flaws of the already existing Articles of Confederation. A few of which are that it disencourage the power to collect taxes, or enforce treaties, and diminished the idea of a national court system. The Anti-Federalists found this a problem because they feared that before long, Congress would pass oppressive taxes that would create an even bigger issue. They also disagreed with these terms because if they were unable to enforce treaties, they could not make peace with other nations, which could result in a catastrophe. …show more content…
Checks and balances are the counterbalancing influences by which an organization or system is regulated.
Without this system, one branch of government might become more powerful than the others. It is necessary that we keep each branch equally powerful so that one matter doesn’t get more attention than the others. For example, the president could veto a law passed by Congress. Congress can override that veto under certain circumstances. Another example is that the Supreme Court may check Congress by making a law unconstitutional. The power is balanced by the fact that members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president. Those appointments have to be approved by
Congress. Those who supported the proposed Constitution were called Federalists. They believed that ratifying the Constitution would make the changes everyone wanted to see in the United States. The Federalists claimed that once the Constitution was ratified, the U.S. would have a strong and independent president, a more powerful congress, justice for all, and a defensive government. These proclamations were produced through amendments. The purpose of amendments is to provide a law with the protection of the federal government. Creating an amendment is the only way to change the constitution. In 1791, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. Since the amendments in the Bill gave us the opportunity to veto a part of the constitution, this made both Anti-Federalists and Federalists feel more protected of their rights. “The amendments are ‘limited to points which are important in the eyes of many and can be objectionable in those of none. The structure and stamina of Government are as little touched as possible.’” said James Madison. 1787 was a year of trial and competition between Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Without Jefferson and his crew of Federalists the United States would not be where it is now.
As everyone can see, the Federalist papers and Anti-Federalist papers have made some good and acceptable changes to politics. Although there was much dispute and arguing, the Federalists won and the Constitution was ratified. The date of ratification was September 17, 1787. One of the main reasons the Federalists won was their strong government. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists lacked a well-organized government. Whatever the outcome, everyone can easily say the Federalist and Anti-Federalists both put a lot of time and effort in their papers and stood up for what they believed in.
The Anti-Federalist Party, led by Patrick Henry, objected to the constitution. They objected to it for a few basic reasons. Mostly the Anti-Federalists thought that the Constitution created too strong a central government. They felt that the Constitution did not create a Federal government, but a single national government. They were afraid that the power of the states would be lost and that the people would lose their individual rights because a few individuals would take over. They proposed a “Bill of Rights”, to make sure the citizens were protected by the law. They believed that no Bill of Rights would be equal to no check on our government for the people.
The name, Anti-Federalists is not the best-suited name for what they truly are, or what they believe in. “They are called the Anti-Federalists, but it should be made clear at once that they were not Anti-Federal at all.” (Main xi) Originally, the word federalist, meant anyone who supported the Articles of Confederation. The term “Anti-Federalist” was placed on them to portray them as people who did not agree with the Federal Government, which was exactly opposite of what they are.
Some historical circumstances surrounding the issue of the ratification of the Constitution was weakness of the new government under the Articles of Confederation which led to the Constitutional Convention. Members of Congress believed that the Articles of Confederation, the first government of the United States, needed to be altered while others did not want change. This desired Constitution created a huge dispute and argument between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The people who supported the new Constitution, the Federalists, began to publish articles supporting ratification. As stated in document 2 John Jay (Federalist) had many arguments to support ratification of the Constitution. One argument John Jay used was, with the ratification of the Constitution, he says, “…Our people free, contented and united…” The Antifederalists had numerous arguments they used to oppose the ratification of the Constitution. The Antifederalists believed that a free republic wouldn’t be able to long exist over a country of the great extent of these states.
During the late 18th century the Antifederalists argued against the constitution on the grounds that it did not contain a bill of rights. They believed that without a list of personal freedoms, the new national government might abuse its powers and that the states would be immersed in an all too dominant and influential national government. The Antifederalists worried that the limits on direct voting and the long terms of the president and senators, supplied by the constitution, would create a population of elites and aristocrats, which in turn would eventually take away power from the people. They also feared that the president might become another monarch. In other words, the Antifederalists ultimately felt that the new Constitution was undemocratic.
Following the states’ need to approve of the Constitution, both the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists began producing papers that argued for their point of view in detail. Anti-federalists, who were the small farmers, laborers, and other middle class men, inclined to believe in a strong state government and a weak national government; additionally, they demanded a Bill of Rights to strengthen individual liberties. For instance, Jefferson Writings wrote to James Madison in 1787, “… a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse,” which meant to explain that a Bill of Rights would protect people’s freedoms and prevent corruption from the government that the Federalists envisioned, (Docume...
While the Federalists believe in a strong, central government, the Anti-Federalists believe in the shared power of state and national governments to maintain the rights of all Americans .The Anti-Federalist favored a confederated government were the state and national governments could share power ,protect citizen’s freedom ,and independence. The Anti-Federalists found many problems in the Constitution. Many were concerned the central government take was all individual rights. Anti-Federalist primarily consisted of farmers and tradesmen and was less likely to be a part of the wealthy elite than were members of their rival the Federalist. Many Anti-federalists were local politicians who feared losing power should the Constitution be ratified and argued that senators that served for too long and represented excessively large territories would cause senators to forget what their responsibilities were for that state. They argued that the Constitution would give the country an entirely new and unknown form of government and saw no reason in throwing out the current government. Instead, they believed that the Federalists had over-stated the current problems of the country and wanted improved characterization of power allowable to the states. They also maintained that the Framers of the Constitution had met as a discriminatory group under an order of secrecy and had violated the stipulations of the Articles of Confederation in the hopes for the for ratification of the Constitution. The Anti-Federalist were sure that the Constitution would take away the rights of the American citizens and fought hard to stop the ratification on the
This group of supporters was mainly compiled up of farmers, share croppers, and tradesmen. The Anti-Federalists believed that each state should have their own independent government. They were led by Patrick Henry and George Mason. Anti-federalists argued that the new Constitution would eventually lead to the disbanding state governments, the consolidation of the Union into one national government, and as a result would put an end to all forms of self-rule in the states. In debating their arguments, the Anti-Federalists often relied on the expressions and ideas from the Revolutionary War era. This was an example of a centralized national (government) power with an overbearing monarch. They claimed that the United States Constitution represented a step away from the democratic goals of the American Revolution and a step towards monarchy and aristocracy. The Anti-Federalists feared that the Constitution would take away Congress’s power and give it all to the president. Many Anti-Federalists supported a type of government known as agrarian republicanism. This type of government is centered around a society of farmers who participate in local
The ratification controversy pitted supporters of the Constitution, who claimed the name "Federalists," against a loosely organized group known as "Antifederalists." The Antifederalists denounced the Constitution as a radically centralizing document that would destroy American liberty and betray the principles of the Revolution. The Federalists urged that the nation's problems were directly linked to the frail, inadequate Confederation and that nothing short of the Constitution would enable the American people to preserve their liberty and independence, the fruits of the Revolution.
When the members of the Constitutional Convention, after several months of vigorous debating, finally finished their work, many of the members still objected to this document. The Federalists were the group of people who desired to get the finished new constitution ratified and the Anti-Federalists were the group of people who disliked the new constitution and believed it shouldn't be ratified because it was missing several key parts. The Anti-Federalists formulated arguments based on the weaknesses they found in the new constitution and used them against the Federalists in order to gain support, while the Federalists convinced citizens of the righteousness of the new constitution in order to gain their support.
A primary document, it was a message for the Federalists and to the American public in general. Although they did not fully support the Articles of Confederation, they did not want a new Constitution to be written. These people were concerned about how little freedom they would have if the federal government got more power. Because of this, they are against the beliefs of the Federalists. The Anti-Federalists are also concerned about how the national government could abuse its power if given a higher authoritative role in the revised Constitution. In order to show the concern, the authors write, “the legislative power is competent to lay taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; there is no limitation to this power..." The Anti-Federalists were afraid that allowing the national government to have so much power would be like living under Britain 's authority all over again. This would render the American Revolution pointless, they believed. They supported the state governments in having authority to tax, govern, and to have independence from the central government in doing so. They believe that if the central government starts taxing the people, the state governments would not be able to raise money
Anti-federalist were the men that felt that the states should have more control and that the constitution should not be ratified. Having the government ratify the constitution would allow the government to gain too much power which could easily lead to a monarch. The whole reason everyone left england was to get more freedoms and if the constitution is to be ratified who knows if the freedoms the people just got back will be taken away again.
The two major points disagreement between the two groups were the power and scope of the federal government and the lack of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. The anti-federalists wanted a national government that would stay weak and have little control over the states. They also stated that without a list of rights(Bill of Rights)given to the people the national government might abuse the rights of the citizens. They considered it crucial to continue with a confederation of sovereign states based on the principle of local self government. The anti-federalists thought the constitution would create a national government that would make the previous states into one. They also thought that since the constitution granted excessive power to the national government, this would create an aristocracy. This would destroy liberty. The anti-federalists did not want the president to be granted power over the armed forces and that the president should serve a maximum of eight years. There was a lot of concern that the senate and the president would unite and combine their powers. Also that the House of Representatives would be unable to protect the liberty of the people. The anti-federalists thought the constitution was granting too much power to congress. They also believed this could eventually lead to giving the legislative branch unlimited powers. They thought that congress’s
The two groups debated the merits of the Constitution for three years, between 1787 and 1790, during which time the colonies debated the ratification. the federalists promoted an English-style society based on strong commercial growth, national prosperity, and the world empire. The anti-federalists, on the other hand, considered that the success of the American Revolution had a unique opportunity to achieve a real republican system of government.
The principle of separation of powers is laid out in Articles I, II, and III, in effort to avoid tyranny. It is a part of a system called check and balances. The check and balances play the roles of the three branches of government. This system was made so that no one branch will over power the other. The three branches come together and help one another by being independent of the other. The legislative branch consists of the Congress, the judicial branch consists of the courts, and the executive branch consists of the president. For an example, when a bill is in progress and the chief executive (president or governor) does not approve of it, he can reject legislation and return it to the legislature with reasons for the rejection. This is a process called veto power.