The Anti-Federalists DBQ

Despite the fact the founding fathers advised contrary to the establishment of political factions as the Constitution withstood the ratification process, a rift amongst men in President George Washington’s cabinet instituted the move toward the conception of political party. During the time period between 1791 and 1833, a two-party system had begun that demonstrated the philosophy of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Although these two political groups were unyielding in their original ideas and beliefs, both had to change a few of their initial standpoints on numerous topics as they dealt with the truth of the government.

America had just successfully broken away from Britain and was trying to establish itself as a new nation in the world. The Constitution was still in effect and holding the nation together and giving it boundaries to abide by. Many people had polarized views of the Constitution, some with a strict interpretation and others with a loose interpretation of the Constitution. It is these differing views, therefore, which created various political parties throughout the country. During the early 1800’s, there were many presidential elections with all the candidates looking to fill the rolls of their predecessors, George Washington and John Adams. Each candidate looked to leave a positive lasting impact on the growth and development of the United States. There were multiple candidates for each election, each with varying views on government and different issues to address during each election. The

The Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers were created in response to the United States Constitution. In 1787, the Second Continental Congress called for a federal convention. This meeting in Philadelphia came to create the U.S Constitution. It originally was held to revise the Articles of Confederation, but due to the mindsets of many proponents present at the convention, like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, and the vision of creating a new government rather than fixing the old one, the United States Constitution was formed. Once this was sent to congress it was submitted to the states for ratification. In response, many articles and letters were submitted to the public criticizing the proposition. These articles and letters are where the Anti-Federalist papers are derived from. Although there was opposition to the Constitution, many were in its favor. In response to these criticizing papers, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison wrote papers in the constitutions defense. These were come to be known as the Federalist papers. Two papers in particular, Federalist 51 and Anti--Federalist 51, are written on the topic of checks and balances and how this relates to a separation of powers within the national government. These arguments were successful due to their primary points of contention and strong arguments proposed.

n the history of the United States, the Anti-federalists were the individuals who opposed the implementation of a central federal government which would seek to oversee different operations in the country along with the ratification of the constitution. Instead, they advocated that power ought to remain within the hands of the local and state governments. Conversely, the Federalists advocated for a stronger government that would oversee the operations of all states. They also wanted the ratification of the existing constitution in order to help the government in managing its debts along with the tensions that were developing in particular states. The Federalist movement was formed by Alexander Hamilton, and it functioned as the first

The United States began as a weak, newborn nation that grew into a large, self-supporting country with a governing body unique to this time period. As the government grew and the nation prospered, the rise of leaders and political figures came about and with this, conflicting principles and ideology spawned, thus creating the first of the political parties; the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Although the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans ideology and stances on the power of the federal government, domestic economic policies and the group of constituents they represented differed vastly, members of both parties often compromised their own beliefs for the nation’s best interest as a whole.

The Federalist believed that there should be a strong central government . The Anti-Federalist believed in less power in government and more in the people and to have our rights guaranteed. Based on the Bill of Rights and the way it was interpreted the Anti-Federalists were right.

Introduction: “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” stated Thomas Jefferson. The thirteen colonies created the Article of Confederation to establish a national government during the Revolutionary War. Several years later, the delegates met at the Constitutional Convention and created a new document known as the United States Constitution in 1787. However, it resulted in two major political parties, Federalists and Anti-federalists, that debated over the nature of the government.

As the young colonies of America broke away from their mother country and began to grow and develop into an effective democratic nation, many changes occurred. As the democracy began to grow, two main political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists.      Each party had different views on how the government should be run. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict construction of the Constitution. The Federalists opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. Throughout the years, the political parties have grown, developed, and even dispersed into

Many people chose to support the Constitution and those people were often called Federalists. The name Federalists comes from the word Federalism, which means a powerful central government. Nationalists seemed to be a more appropriate name for the supporters of the Constitution, but during the 1780s the name would have been a political responsibility. The most important role of a Federalist was their ability to defend the popular gains of the Revolution. Many Federalists were well educated in national-level work and very gifted. Among those gifted Federalists were Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Furthermore, the Federalists were also well regulated, well financed, and used the printed word very wisely. Most of the newspapers were in favor of the Federalists and the articles were

In the Anti-federalist number one it states that there is a lot of risk in accepting the constitution, because it has the potential to solve a lot of the nation’s problems but it could also backfire. Theoretically if the constitution does solve the nation’s problems our future generations to come will reap the rewards and benefits, but, if it doesn’t succeed the future citizens of our nation will blame the founders and will lack their God given liberty. The document states that creating a strong central government (which is what the Constitution is trying to establish), would leave the people venerable (unlike the Articles of Confederation), which provide the states with all the power. In the Constitution it does state that it would share the

While the anti-Federalists believed the Constitution and formation of a National Government would lead to a monarchy or aristocracy, the Federalists vision of the country supported the belief that a National Government based on the Articles of the Confederation was inadequate to support an ever growing and expanding nation.

No, I do not believe that the fears of the Anti-Federalists have materialized for the most part. This is largely due to how the government is organized. Some of the main fears of the Anti-Federalists were that the new constitution would allow for the government to become too powerful; thereby, giving it the ability to dominate over state governments and individual people’s rights. However, the Constitution put in place many safeguards and mechanisms to ensure that these worries do not come ring true. These mechanisms include Federalism (a system that divides legal power among national and state governments), Separation of Powers (which splits up the federal government into 3 branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial), and Checks and Balances

The Anti-Federalist put up a long and hard fight, however, they were not as organized as the Federalists. While the Anti- Federalist had great concerns about the Constitution and National government, the Federalist had good responses to combat these concerns. The Federalist were and for the Constitution and feel the Article of Confederation were not worth ratifying, these should be scrapped altogether. They felt that the Articles limited the power of congress, because congress had to request cooperation from the states. Unlike the Anti-Federalist, the Federalist organized quickly, had ratifying conventions, and wrote the Federalist papers to rebut the Anti- Federalist arguments.

A political party is a group of people who seek to win elections and hold public office in order to shape government policy and programs. George Washington warned the nation against creating political parties in his famous “Farewell Address”. He feared political parties would divide the country and weaken support of the Constitution (Doc 4). The first major political parties, the Federalists and the Republicans, were created during the term of President George Washington. Despite President Washington’s warning, the rise of the two political parties, in the years after his term was inevitable. The Federalists were in favor of a strong central government, while the anti-federalists opposed most their ideas. Over time, the gradual development

In 1790, the United States had just recently broke free from the British crown and united under the cause of liberty. But in spite of this, Americans saw political rifts brought about by the rise of political parties. The rise of political parties in 1790 was caused by general distrust, disagreements on policies, and constitutional disagreements between the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, which were led by Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, respectively.