Compare And Contrast Federalist And Anti Federalists

On the heels of the revolutionary war and the failed attempt of a national government (The Articles of Confederation), the leaders of the United States set to make a stronger, centralized government, with dual sovereignty between the national government and the states. The rules of this governing body would be laid out in a document called the Constitution. Although most leaders supported the constitution they did not agree on many aspects of it. Out of the disagreement two groups emerged, the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist. The Federalist supported all aspects of the constitution and a larger national government, while the Anti-Federalist opposed ratifying the constitution and supported a smaller national government and more sovereignty to the states. This disagreement led to a fierce debate between the two groups that still resonates today. This essay will examine the primary
They felt a large national government would be too far removed from the power of the people because it would be governing a large body of constituents, however, by giving more power to the states the Anti-Federalist felt the power would remain with the people.
The Powers of the national government were not well defined in the constitution. The Anti-Federalists opposed this, and they also took issue with the elastic and supremacy clause which they felt could give the national government the power to increase its own power. The Anti-Federalists wanted more defined powers of the national government in the Constitution.
One of the greatest fears of the Anti-Federalists was that the Constitution had no Bill of Rights. The Anti-Federalist believed that the Constitution needed to have something in place to prevent the government from encroaching on the people’s rights and liberties. They felt by having a Bill of Rights the power could remain with the states and the