Federalists vs Anti-Federalists: Shaping the US Constitution

The debate between the Anti-Federalists and Federalists is important because it provides us insight on how the United States Constitution was built and how it was changed. A reason why this debate is so important to understand is because there are people today who don’t agree with the government having so much power. Once one understands what started the disagreement between the two groups of politicians, one will see how both sides sealed the deal for our constitution that we still follow today. I have decided to speak about the Anti-Federalists first because this group of men stood out to me as being very intelligent, creative and brave but unfortunately their plan to help Americans wasn’t successful. Patrick Henry and George Mason, some of the few influential figures, were all about “supporting the American needs”. Originally called the “Federalists” in 1781, they were the first American National Government called the Articles of Confederation, which gave all thirteen states’ government more authority and freedom. The Federalists main concerns were to make sure Americans kept their liberty and states become one Union. The Anti-Federalists main concerns were to make sure Americans had their freedom but have separate Unions. Although the Federalists and Anti-Federalists were different,

Now that I had the chance to understand both points of views, I see why the Anti-Federalists were not thrilled to be pushed aside by the new constitution. There were illegal actions taken, leaving many people wondering if the Federalists were the best group of people to decide what laws the states had to follow. James Madison and other’s changed the constitution for the better. The Federalists were right in creating a new constitution because the nation needed and still needs a central government for each state to respond too and keep the