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Compare And Contrast The Arguments Against The Ratification Of The Constitution

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The Constitution “Give me liberty, or give me death!” (Patrick Henry) The introduction of the Constitution brought along a frenzied dispute between two parties of people known as the Federalists, and Anti-Federalists. Each of these parties had theories on whether or not they believed the Constitution should be ratified. The Federalists, a like James Madison, were the individuals who were for the ratification of the Constitution. Federalists shared the belief that the Constitution would bring a good balance of power. While the Anti-Federalists, such as Patrick Henry, were the exact opposite; they were against the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-Federalists were concerned about their liberty and the government being given too much power. …show more content…

This caused the fear that the nation was too great for the national government to respond to the state and local concerns of people. Anti-Federalist Patrick Henry, was concerned that the Constitution would interfere with liberty. “Show me that age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men, without a consequent loss of liberty!” Here Henry expressed his opposition to putting faith in the morality of men to control their actions in order to reserve liberty. Henry didn’t believe the government left individuals with the means to defend their rights. Also, that people lacked the right to nullification. He believed a consolidated government would place all power in the government instead of the people. “It is radical in this transition; our rights and privileges are endangered, and the sovereignty of the states will be relinquished: and cannot we plainly see that this is actually the case? The rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press, all your immunities and franchises, all pretensions to human rights and privileges, are rendered insecure, if not lost, by this change, so loudly talked of by some, and inconsiderately by others. Is this tame relinquishment of rights worthy of freemen?” Henry was also concerned with the lack of guaranteed

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Anti-Federalists Patrick Henry and Mercy Otis Warren both opposed the ratification of the United States Constitution because they believed the strong national government the document created would have the power to take away the rights of the people. Patrick Henry’s speech at the Virginia ratifying convention in June 1788 and Mercy Otis Warren’s pamphlet, “Observations on the New Constitution,” both explain their authors’ opposition to the new Constitution for a stronger national government. In his speech Henry spoke of the lack of security for the people’s rights under the Constitution. Because of that, he said, the new Constitution should be considered as a source of anxiety and fear. The people needed to be more protective of their rights,

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Making it clear that Patrick Henry ultimately believes that the new government will deprive the people of their rights and not make their voices heard (Henry and Mason 153). A great point made by George Mason was “the power is calculated to annihilate totally the state governments” (Henry and Mason, 153). By these few words, George Mason is trying to convey that the idea of a new government is the actual form of a confederation to a consolidated government, a government where the states will lose power and one that would cause for the people to be taxed by different powers. George Mason continues off with the point about taxation by stating that with a consolidated government, the people will not have full representation in the general government making it a situation like it used to be when Britain was in power (Henry and Mason, 153). A point made by Patrick Henry is his concern about the principles of the system proposed and holds in the constitution.

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He also declares that the focus of a government should not be on wealth or power but on liberty, something Henry believes should be “the direct end of your government” (Shi and Mayer, 154-155). One lost right Henry focuses on is the ability to change the government; no one, according to him, will be able to stand up to and change the government proposed, able to wield unlimited power. According to Henry, there are no checks or balances on the federal government’s power under this new doctrine, and rather than focus on the liberty and happiness of its citizens, the nation will focus on becoming an empire through conquest. Henry also touches upon the lack of a Bill of Rights; while the states were given explicit rights in the Articles of Confederation, the people are given none explicitly in the Constitution, leaving all power implicitly to the federal government. He believes that the inclusion of a Bill of Rights would stop a dispute from occurring (Shi and Mayer 155-157).

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