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The dispute between the federalist and the anti-federalist
The dispute between the federalist and the anti-federalist
The dispute between the federalist and the anti-federalist
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Feniben Patel “The Conflict over the Constitution” The United States is known as the land of freedom, which permits, everyone to have their own opinions, and allows everyone to be able to convey them to others, this is permitted by the Constitution. The founding fathers had many contrasting point of views, regarding the formation of the Constitution. Patrick Henry, and James Madison had very diverse point of view, with regards to the government of the recently independent colonies. The United States government is based on federalism. Federalism is a system of government in which the national and the state government share the power to govern its people. After the French and Indian war, which concluded in 1763, England was in debt. To pay the …show more content…
There were who favored the federalist system, while others were anti- federalist. Federalist were those who supported the idea of states and national government sharing the power to govern, Anti-federalist were those who were against the Constitution, because the Constitution was based on federalism. James Madison and Patrick Henry were part of the fifty-five men who attended the meeting in Philadelphia, in 1787. Patrick Henry, was an Anti Federalist. Anti Federalist feared that if the national government gains too much power, and it would became a threat to the people, like the British Parliament was. Patrick Henry’s family was not as rich like families of other founding fathers. Patrick Henry received an ordinary, but he spend most of his time in the wood, learning basic survival techniques (Pg 69). He also gave the very famous, speech “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” in 1775 (pg 69). Most Anti Federalist were loyal was towards the state and not towards the national government. Patrick Henry believed the federalist were “rich and the elite”, and wanted the power for themselves (pg 74). Patrick Henry said in a speech to virginia convention on june 4
Federalism is the federal principle or system of government. In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered the people is first divided between two distances government (states and federal), and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distance and separate departments. In their attempt to balance order with liberty, the founders
The Federalists and Anti-federalists shared the common beliefs of John Locke’s Enlightenment ideals such as all men were born equal (even though most of these men owned slaves), but their opinions about the role of government were different. Both parties had their own visions of how a new government would function and how the Constitution would support the government being proposed. Many argued that the Articles of Confederation had created a very weak government with very limited power. Specifically, the amount of power or the absence of power of a central government was the main disagreement between the Federalists and Anti-federalists. As a result, the Federalists and Anti-federalists argued about the ratification of a new constitution, which would give the central government more power.
After the Constitution was written, the new born nation was immediately split into two political sides, the federalists and the anti-federalists, over the ratification. Federalists, southern planters or people that tended to hold interest in trade, advocated a strong executive. On the other hand, anti-federalists, back country people or people involved in business but not in the mercantile economy, opposed the ratification of the constitution. The two sides, after much debate, were able to come to a compromise after the Bill of Rights was included into the Constitution.
All of the framer of the U.S. Constitution had one thing in common, they all felt that the government didn't have enough power. At the same time they didn't want to give the government to much power. They all knew if there was power to be held someone was going to hold it and over use it The framers didn't want to create a system like Britain or England.
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.
Patrick Henry’s Anti-Federalist argument had a big purpose when it was wrote. It was Henry’s way of talking about his objections to the new Constitution. He listed varies objection to the constitution and stated reasoning behind his objections to make others see his point. Henry was a liberal activist. He wrote his document in first person. The audience for his stated was for the general public. The general public that this would have been in interest to was the government, anti-federalists, the state, and any adult in general.
The Constitution of the United States is one of the most iconic and important documents of all time. However, when it was first generated, its writing and ratification caused some major concerns. The purpose of the Constitution was to address the great number of issues of a new nation. To be more specific, the Constitution was meant to resolve the political, economic, and social problems of the country. Nevertheless, the document spurred much discussion and concern over people’s rights, the economy, and political corruption.
Anti –federalist believed that with out the bill of rights, the national government would became a to strong it would threating the americans peoples rights and libertys. Due to prior american revolution, ant-federalist did not forget what they fought for an believed that with a stronger national government, the president could become kind if he wanted. During this time people still feared a strong central government, due to british occupany of the states. Concidently the of people who wanted the bill of rights and were anti-federalist were famers and the working class, as to the fedarlist were extremely rich and powerful people Thomas Jeferson who was a active anti-federalist once wrote to james Madison 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, or rest on inferences. (Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787. ME 6:388, Papers
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 Federalist and Antifederalist viewpoints are what stemmed the whole mess of differences that made them so resistent to each other. The Federalist favored the establishing of the Constitution while the Anti Federalists opposed it. The differences in what these two groups wanted was mindboggler. Because of the sharp differences they had difference in the support size, who supported them, and what they exactly wanted in the Constitution.
In creating the Constitution, the states had several different reactions, including a rather defensive reaction, but also an understanding reaction. As a document that provided the laws of the land and the rights of its people. It directs its attention to the many problems in this country; it offered quite a challenge because the document lent itself to several views and interpretations, depending upon the individual reading it. It is clear that the founders’ perspectives as white, wealthy or elite class, American citizens would play a role in the creation and implementation of The Constitution.
The Federalist thought the federal government should have more power because it and nothing to do to help against the states. The Anti Federalist wanted the states to have more power and didn't want the federal government have that much power. Because they could overpower everyone. The reason that the federalist wanted the federal government to have more power is because they could tax better they could have a court system that works for everyone not just each state for himself. When the states had all the power everyone was hurt because they couldn't raise enough money to do anything. When the federal government got more power they hurt more of the farmers than
The development of the U.S. Constitution was a series of many trials and errors. There were many problems starting from the Articles of Confederation and even the battle to ratify the constitution. Not everyone wanted the same thing for the new government, however they all agreed that they didn’t want the same type of government that they had unde English rule.
In 1777, Members of Congress felt the need to have some written documentation that showed and explained exactly how they were organized and operated. According to U.S. History, “The Articles of Confederation were passed by the Congress in November, but the first national constitution for the U.S. was in written form about how Congress had operated since 1775,” (Articles of Confederation, n.d., para.2). The Constitution was a very controversial document because for one, it was something new they were introducing and a lot of change was going to come from it. The Constitution was changing how things were run, what were and were not the rights of the people, and