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Articles Of Confederation Dbq Essay

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After Shay’s Rebellion and the nation on the brink of bankruptcy it was clear that the Articles of Confederation would not be adequate to preserve the nation. So began the great battle for the balance between order and freedom. The main point of dispute between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists in the battle over the ratification of the Constitution surrounded the question of what powers and rights were required in order to insure the security and liberty of the nation. The Federalists advocated that a strong central government was needed, which was supported by the failure of the Articles of Confederation. However the Anti-Federalists were determined on keeping the sovereignty of the states and by doing so also retaining their secured political freedom.
Those who opposed the centralization of government were the Anti-Federalists, they knew that the system would eventually pose a threat to the rights of the people. There were several issues that were cause for concern to the Anti-Federalists when the Constitution was proposed. These issues were the sole power of taxation, the lack of protection of freedoms, the lack of representation, the dissolving of the state’s powers, and above …show more content…

This was the Anti-Federalists most effective argument in the ratification battle. The lack of a Bill of Rights was evidence that the Framers had either failed to build in fortifications against tyranny or worse that they had purposely laid the foundation for tyranny. With Americans already experiencing democracy in their own towns and states, with the proposed centralized powers the people viewed it as a danger to their rights. The Anti-Federalists were confident in their fight to overthrow the Constitution and preserve the sovereignty and power of the states, with the fact that there were no protections of the peoples civil

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