Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists Federalists were mostly merchants, bankers manufacturers, and wealthy farm owners. They basically owned land or some type of property and were well-educated. Most of these people lived in urban areas. Anti-Federalists were mostly artisans, shopkeepers, frontier settlers, and poor farmers. They were mostly uneducated and illiterate and most of them lived in rural areas.
They believed in three branches of power, legislative, executive, and judicial. They also stated that there should be separate power between federal and state governments. The political group who did not support the constitution became known as Anti-Federalists. They did not support a central government.
If a government became too strong, liberty would be destroyed. Anti-Federalists also did not agree on the Federalists framework for the Congress. They thought there would be too few representatives in Congress to represent the great diverse views of all
Federalists and Anti-Federalists both have an arguable amount of supporters. I am in favor of the Anti-Federalist point of view. The Anti-Federalists believed the Constitution granted too much power to the federal courts, at the expense of the state and local courts. They argued that the federal courts would be too far away to provide justice to the average citizen. In addition the Constitution allows the government too much power,does not provide for a republican government, and it also does not include a Bill of Rights, which is vital.
In the eyes of Anti-Federalists, the Federalists wanted a strong central government so that they could bypass the law and make the decisions they felt were most necessary despite popular
Federalists believed the key to a successful nation lay within giving the majority of the power to the national government- where they would protect the rights of the people to the fullest extent. On the contrary, anti-federalists believed giving too much power to the national federal government would result in corruption among the states, threatening the rights and liberties of the common person. As a solution to this fear of corruption, anti-federalists believed a better alternative to strong national rule would be by dividing the power up among the states. Localized authority, they believed, would better represent the needs of the common man, whereas strong centralized authority would be difficult to represent the average
The Anti-Federalist’s structure of the government was the right way the government should have been shaped. Their efforts clearly showed that the protection of our individual rights, and prevention of the government having too much power over the states was their main goal. Though it was viewed that the Anti-Federalists “lost” in the debate with the Federalists, they achieved a lot. The Anti-Federalists favored pure democracy, wanting a federal system where the states had more power than the government.
Federalist and Anti-Federalists: The Debate that Shaped American History Following the turbulent period of the Revolutionary War, a young nation was officially born on the massive continent of North America. After years of indirect British rule, the colonies were left to completely govern themselves and were largely disconnected with no strong centralized government to unite the colonies. With the colonists preferring limited government such as governors with weak executive power, their animosity with an authoritative and aristocratic government was clear (Baker 9/29/15). This preference was reflected in the first constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation.
Some people are in favor of the Constitution, some are against it. They are federalists (in favor) and anti-federalists (against). Though there is one major difference, there are more things we can compare and contrast. Federalists believed that, without a Constitution, America might crumble.
The federalist wanted to see a change for the better of the country, they had faith in a strong central government.
The Anti-Federalist believed that the Constitution granted too much power to the federal courts and took power from the states, depriving citizens of liberties. The Federalist believed that "The smaller the number of individuals composing a majority, and the smaller the compass within which they are placed, the more easily will they concert and execute their plans of oppression. Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens" (Federalist Papers, No. 10). The Anti-Federalist wanted a national representation large enough to secure a substantial representation of the middle class, but not a very large one. They did not want a large national representation because they believed it may derive liberties from local state representatives.
Federalist, and Anti-Federalist. The Federalist wanted a strong central government, while the Anti-Federalist were looking more for individual freedoms. Federalist believed that the best way to protect individual freedoms was to have a large republic, but Anti Federalist opposed. They believe that to protect our rights, we must have a small republic. Anti-Federalist concluded “competition between interest
On the other hand, Federalists wanted a
The Anti-Federalist’s view of government about having a federal government where the states have more power rather than to have a central government was justified. The Anti-federalists wanted to ensure the protection of individual rights along with allowing the states to have the role of checking and balancing each other. Although their inspiration was the Articles of Confederation, their main goal was to make a few adjustments along with adding a Bill of Rights to secure the citizens’ rights for many generations to come. Federalists, people who supported the Constitution, sided with having a central government. They had the determination to have the Constitution ratified.
They fear the government has too much athority under the constitution. They want states to have the most power not a national government because they believed they were only protecting the wealthy aristocrats. Federalism has many positive attributes
