Compare And Contrast The Federalist And Anti-Federalists

In 1787, the development of the American Constitution initiated a battle between two opposing parties, known as the Federalists and the Anti-Federalist. Both of these parties shared had political thoughts they agreed upon, as well as political thoughts that of course they disagreed on. However, both the Federalists and the Anti-Federalist would soon compromise and ultimately commence a mutual solution, a solution that favored the Anti-Federalist. Out of the two parties the Anti-Federalist had the strongest arguments against the constitution, due to their support in protecting the rights of the people, as well as arguing that the national government has too much power, which the Federalist did not uphold. The Federalist which consisted of

The Federalist believed that establishing a national government was not only possible, but mandatory in order to create a healthy nation. Until this point, the common belief was that a government may solely operate effectively, if it had little power. The Federalists challenged this belief and claimed that a powerful national government would better sustain the rights of the people. The Federalist also argued that, that the new government would not have too much power because of checks and balances that would help prevent the national government from total control, which was stressed by James Madison in Federalist No. 51, “The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself”. While the opposite party, the Anti-Federalist were small farmers and middle class people who were led by Patrick Henry, and other important middle class figures. The Anti-Federalist argued against the idea of a powerful national government, which would limit the powers of the state. One other key argument made by the Anti-Federalist emphasized the need for a bill of rights. Anti-Federalist feared that with the lack of a bill of rights, the Constitution would not

The Anti-Federalist feared that the Constitution would lead the United States down an all-too-familiar road of political corruption. One issue that the Anti-Federalists found within the Constitution was the Executive branch’s new powers, especially how a single veto could overturn a bill from the Legislative branch. Another issue Anti-Federalists disliked was how Congress is able to collect and raise taxes, this sprung the idea of Congress might abuse their power. The Anti-Federalist also argued how a bill of rights is necessary in order to preserve the rights of the people, one modern day example that highlights this is how the National Security Agency otherwise known as NSA, disturbs the privacy of the people. One aspect of this issue that violates the bill of rights is how the NSA is continuing their actions without a warrant, the fourth amendment clearly states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated”. Terrorism alone is not a rational explanation for these because the NSA is monitoring millions of individuals that have no correlation with terrorism. The Anti-Federalist were the backbone of the states, in other words they were the middle class. The middle class is the majority in society and throughout history the middle class drives a nation,