Federalists Vs. Anti Federalists
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After the Constitutional Convention the real battle was just beginning. There were those people who opposed the Constitution and they took on the name of the Anti-Federalists, and then there were those who were in favor of the Constitution and they became known as the Federalists. There were many opinions from both sides played out in the public through printed newspapers across the country. The debates between the two sides were heated at times. The main concern was how much power the federal government should have. “Two Founding Fathers who represented opposing sides were Alexander Hamilton, who argued for a strong national government with James Madison and John Jay in the seminal Federalist Papers, and Thomas Jefferson who favored a weaker central government and more power resting with individual states”(The Federalists Debates, n.d; & Bruns 1986). This is where the different political parties got there starts; they are what we call today Democrats and Republicans.
The plight of the Anti-Federalists was essentially they wanted a more pure federal system. They believed that the Constitution as it stood did not protect individual rights. Samual Bryan was the first to publish an article where he declared “that the new government would become one controlled by the wealthy established families and the culturally refined. The common working people he believed were in danger of being subjugated to the will of an all powerful authority remote and inaccessible to the people.” Of course the Federalists also gave compelling speeches in their defense for instance when James Wilson made a speech to a crowd “praising the new government as the best which has ever been offered to the world”(Bruns, 1986).
Both sides gave compelling arguments and had valid points of view, but the Anti-Federalists seemed to be the side that had the peoples best interests in mind. They only wanted to protect the rights of the people in America, and the Constitution lacked important parts, such as a bill of rights. This was the Anti-Federalists most compelling argument. “Even Thomas Jefferson, generally in favor of the new government, wrote to Madison that a bill of rights was what the people are entitled to against every government on earth” (Bruns, 1986). The debates between the two groups is ironic because the Federalists who fought so hard to get out from under the control of the British seemed to be trying to impose a very similar control over America, and the Anti-Federalists were quick to remind them that they had just fought a War to gain independence, and they were not going to allow such a controlling government here.
The Federalists were the stronger of the two parties in the beginning. Their interests lay with the more wealthy people like big landowners and merchants, where as the Anti-Federalists drew support from the more common people who were less privileged. The Anti-Federalists did eventually become a power to be reckoned with. (Federalist Party, 2005). With strong leaders like Jefferson on their side they were heard and were taken seriously. The strong voices of the Anti-federalists managed to get the Bill of Rights approved, because the Federalists realized this was the only way they were going to get the Constitution approved. (Bruns, 1986)
“The Federalists were successful in their effort to get the