The Federalist and Anti- Federalist The Voices of Reason Persuasion and Advantages

Who were the Federalists?  The Federalists supported the Constitution. They liked to explain what it was about and strongly defended it.  Three of the most famous Federalists were James Madison, of course, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay

JAMES MADISON  Writes The Federalist papers because he supports a strong central government

ALEXANDER HAMILTON  Alexander Hamilton a lawyer co-writes several The Federalist essays  Supports a strong national government and ratification of the Constitution

The Federalist Papers  What were they? A series of essays that explained and supported the U.S. Constitution  Who wrote them? Madison, Hamilton, and Jay wrote them, but James Madison was the primary author

The Federalist Papers  What were the main arguments? A republican form of government would work well in the U.S., a very large territoryA republican form of government would work well in the U.S., a very large territory Federalism allowed national and state governments to share powerFederalism allowed national and state governments to share power The Articles of Confederation created a weak governmentThe Articles of Confederation created a weak government

Who were the Anti-federalists?  They believed that the Constitution created a national government that was too powerful.  Men like Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, and Patrick Henry also opposed the Constitution because there was no bill of rights to protect individual freedoms and felt it gave the president too much power

Patrick Henry  Active leader during the Revolution who demanded that the British “give me liberty, or give me death!"  He is against the Constitution because it reduced states rights and had no Bill of Rights

George Mason  Anti-Federalist, a Virginian Plantation owner  Wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights which becomes the model for the Bill of Rights  He refused to sign the Constitution until a Bill of Rights was included

Federalist   Support Constitution   Big, national government   No need for Bill of Rights   Articles of Confederation not strong enough   Rich people, merchants, shop owners   City people Antifederalist   Against Constitution   Small national government, stronger state governments   Bill of Rights to protect personal freedom   Supported Articles of Confederation   Poorer people   Farmers

So, what have you learned? 1. Who were the Federalists? 2. Who were the Anti-federalists? 3. Why were the Federalist Papers written? 4. What did the Federalists Papers say about the principle of Federalism? 5. Who was the main author of the Federalist Papers?