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Anti-Federalist vs. Federalist on the Constitution The reason framers of the U.S. Constitution chose to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments is that, they didn’t want to end up giving one group too much power that would end up abusing it and hurting people in the future. They believed that the idea of giving certain government power to individual states would be a serious threat affecting everyone. The whole purpose of why the Framers realized the Articles needed fixing was because of all of the problems they caused and how everyone had an opinion on how the government should be created and where the power should be placed. Now, as the writing of the Constitution was in place, two vitally important parties …show more content…
emerged, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Each party had a different opinion on which set of government rules was right for the people. The point that I am trying to make, is whether or not the two sets of rules for the government that each party believed in so much and supported, helped in shaping what the outcome of the final Constitution has come to be. The Articles of Confederation created many problems within the government that affected people in more ways than they could handle and control.
These are some of the major problems that caused weaknesses within this version of the government. Now, since the Articles were too weak to pass laws, it resulted in the loss of power. Which basically created a chain reaction of conflicts like having no power to collect taxes or control trade, no executive to administer and enforce legislation, since the Congress had sole authority to govern. Not only that, but also, an important one to note is that it had no national court system. Putting aside the vulnerabilities, there were strengths involved as well, like the fact that they were at least able to emerge a Congress being their highest form of power. They alone had the power to declare war, appoint treaties, and consider foreign relationships. Despite the weakness of the poorly formed government, the Congress was always brought into conflicts relating to territorial problems with the …show more content…
states. Focusing now on the Federal and States Governments, this is where, Anti-Federalists and Federalists, become a factor towards each party’s idea on how the nation should be run according to them. On the Federal Government side, being logical, Federalists believed that the Constitution should have implied powers so they can work out the established powers. At the same time, Anti-Federalists felt the need to want more power seeing as they believed in limited and established state powers. Basically, when it came down to why the Framers chose to create a strong federal government, they believed certain governmental powers become a threat to a single group, noticing that too much power leads to dangerous outcomes for everyone. Prevention from this and the division of powers into states, helped out many merchants, lawyers, preachers, judges and large landowners. Turning over to the State Government side, Federalists, again being the logical one here, wanted a strong federal government to maintain order and keep the union. While on the other hand, Anti-Federalists wanted a strong state government since they believed local governments best understood what the needs of citizens’ were, which also best protects citizen’s freedom. Ultimately, the Framers should have kept the posers in the state governments because they declared originally, that each state should continue to have its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right under the Articles. On top of that, they eventually realized it would help, Madison and Jefferson, the leaders who supported a strong state government, along with the small farmers and landowners and debtors. Finally, in addition the major conflicts with the Articles and the differences of the governments, the Constitution puts its thoughts out there about the federal and state powers.
A very important point to note, is this form of government was organized into three specific branches, executive, legislative and judicial. The Executive Branch is more the area of where the President administers and enforces laws. In terms of dealing with representation, the Legislative Branch prepares to how and where the votes are counted and maintained. This branch reassures that each state has equally represented the houses according to population and also decides the simple majority on when to enact legislation. Now, the Judicial Branch is where the national court system that is headed by the Supreme Court, along with when the Courts need to handle cases involving national laws, treaties and the Constitution. In spite of the branches, the government also participates in having state rights too. They will also handle cases between states, citizens of different states or between a state and a citizen of another state. When Congress has to admit states into the Constitution, they must all have a Republican form of government. Furthermore, the amendment of the Constitution by two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by the national convention, is followed by the ratification by three-fourths of the states. The states accept the Constitution as a supreme law of the land. As I am ending, I
hope that I have clarified the major reasons in why the Framers of the United States Constitution ultimately decided to give more power to the Federal government. Not only that, but, I also hope I gave you clear views on what the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists each believed the nation should know about their plans for government.
On September 28, 1787 Confederation Congress sent out the draft of the Constitution. This was the first time in history for the people to debate, discuss, and decide with a vote for how they wanted to be governed. There were two groups that debated the thought of the Constitution. They were called Federalists and anti-Federalists.
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.
The Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers played a major role in US History. They dealt with many problems in politics. The papers were made after the Revolutionary war. People started to worry that the government would not last under the Articles of Confederation. Without having a backup plan just yet, some delegates met up and created the Constitution. The constitution had to be ratified before it became the rule of all the land. The Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers discuss whether the constitution should be approved or not. Some things Anti-Federalist and Federalists argued was a strong national government, a standing army, and whether or not the constitution should be ratified and why.
who thought that the constitution would not be able to protect the rights of the people.
The states attempted to limit the power of the national government because they feared that it would become a monarchy. In an effort to limit the power of the national government, Congress created one without enough power to govern effectively, which led to serious national and international problems. One of the main weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation was its incapability to regulate trade and levy taxes. The states controlled all of their “cash flows.” Sometimes, the states were in debt because of tariff wars that they would engage in with one another.
Eric Foner claims the definition of Federalism refers to the relationship between the national government and the states. Unlike the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation came with many weaknesses. Some provided by our powerpoint include that the Federal government had no power to make the states obey the Articles and laws that were passed by the legislature. The states also had the power to tax, and the opportunity to print their own money. Our powerpoint focuses on the $10 million Congress owed to other countries, as well as the $40 million it owed to the American veterans. The Constitution differed. Foner states that not only did the Constitution enhance national authority, but it also permitted Congress to levy taxes, conduct commerce, confirm war, deal with the foreign nations and Indians, and rent and help the “general welfare”. According to the powerpoint, Federalists focused on the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
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.
From 1787-1790 the development of the American Constitution was a battle between two opposing political philosophies. America’s best political minds gathered in Philadelphia and other cities in the Northeast in order to find common ground in a governmental structure. The Federalists and the Anti-Federalists had both some political thoughts that agreed as well as some political thoughts that disagreed. However, both parties would compromise and ultimately come together.
Since the Dawn of time, man was had many beliefs from the belief of gods or a god, democracy and communism. In the beginning days of our nation (United States of America) the bill of rights was being created due to American Revolution and the weakness of the articles of the confederation. The articles of confederation were the constitution at the time for the United States of America before and after the American Revolution, which we fought against the tyranny of the British government. The American government at the time realized the Articles of Confederation was weak and need to be changed. This resulted in the bill rights being drafted and added into the US Constitution. But before the bill rights
After winning the Revolutionary War and sovereign control of their home country from the British, Americans now had to deal with a new authoritative issue: who was to rule at home? In the wake of this massive authoritative usurpation, there were two primary views of how the new American government should function. Whereas part of the nation believed that a strong, central government would be the most beneficial for the preservation of the Union, others saw a Confederation of sovereign state governments as an option more supportive of the liberties American’s fought so hard for in the Revolution. Those in favor of a central government, the Federalists, thought this form of government was necessary to ensure national stability, unity and influence concerning foreign perception. Contrastingly, Anti-Federalists saw this stronger form of government as potentially oppressive and eerily similar to the authority’s tendencies of the British government they had just fought to remove. However, through the final ratification of the Constitution, new laws favoring state’s rights and the election at the turn of the century, one can say that the Anti-Federalist view of America prevails despite making some concessions in an effort to preserve the Union.
The Constitution, when first introduced, set the stage for much controversy in the United States. The two major parties in this battle were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists, such as James Madison, were in favor of ratifying the Constitution. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists, such as Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, were against ratification. Each party has their own beliefs on why or why not this document should or should not be passed. These beliefs are displayed in the following articles: Patrick Henry's "Virginia Should Reject the Constitution," Richard Henry Lee's "The Constitution Will Encourage Aristocracy," James Madison's "Federalist Paper No. 10," and "The Letters to Brutus." In these documents, many aspects of the Constitution, good and bad, are discussed. Although the Federalists and Anti-Federalists had very conflicting views, many common principals are discussed throughout their essays. The preservation of liberty and the effects of human nature are two aspects of these similarities. Although the similarities exist, they represent and support either the views of the Federalists or the Anti-Federalists.
The Articles of Confederation were incapable of providing the United States with an effective form of government. The Articles of Confederation presided weakly over the government as it allowed little or no power to tax, control trade, and branches of government were missing. In addition to this, the thirteen states acted as separate nations and the national government had little control over them.
In my opinion, the relationship between the Federal government and the States is unclear whether which institution has the authority to implement legislations. The vagueness of the American constitution particularly in the 10th Amendment of the Constitution that quote ” The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The ambiguous of the American Constitution may be the main cause of the over power of Federal government.
The reason for much of this power is the principle of judicial review of the actions of the executive and legislative branches of government at both state and federal level against a written constitution and the power therefore to 'interpret' the constitution. The power of judicial review over the states is laid down in the supremacy clause of article III and the power of judicial review over the other two branches of the federal government is implied in the constitution and by several but by no means all of the founding fathers: "A constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by the judges, as a fundamental law. It therefore belongs to them to ascertain its meaning, as well as the meaning of any particular act proceeding from the legislative body. If there should happen to be an irreconcilable variance between the two, that which has the superior obligation and validity ought, of course, to be preferred; or, in other words, the Constitution ought to be preferred to the statute, the intention of the people to the intention of thei... ... middle of paper ... ...
In 1789 the Constitution had been published, but it did not include a Bill of Rights. The government was split into two groups, the Federalist and the Anti-Federalists. Federalists thought that the Bill of Rights was not needed and that the Constitution could not improve. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists argued that it was needed and that it could improve the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists and the Federalists both publish documents that had the reasons that supported their claim.