Ratifying the Constitution

200 years after the Constitution was written and ratified, Most Americans were terrified of the Constitution becoming too powerful. Many people think that this document has always been valued, but this is not true. When this document was written in 1787 and submitted to the states for ratification, it started to become months of violent and often harsh debates. In April of 1789, George Washington was under oath as President, even though two states still had not approved the Constitution. When ratifying the U.S. Constitution there were major arguments for each side in the debate. The two opposing side that were involved in this debate were known as the Feudalist and the Anti-Feudalist. The Anti- Feudalist were against ratifying the Constitution because they feared that the Constitution would become too powerful. On the other hand the Feudalist wanted to have a new strong central government. The newspaper “The Massachusetts Sentinel”, October 20, 1787 stated that there were issues and distresses in every part of the country. All of the famers, working people, and every class of public creditors wanted a stronger new government. (Doc.1) The new nation suffered severe economic problems and the government was unable to get respect at home or overseas under the articles of confederation. The federalist felt like we needed a new constitution to be approved in order to fix the articles of confederation. In order to win the approval of the U.S. Constitution the state is giving the people the chance to be placed in front of the Grand Jury before being put on trial for any crime committed. To do this the State had to include the 7th Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which states that before being put on trial the Grand Jury has to find enough evidence to prosecute the criminal. This amendment removed the fears and eased the anxiety of the commonwealth during that time of ratifying the Constitution. (Doc.6) Mercy Otis Warren an Anti- Feudalist that disapproving of