Federalists, Anti- Federalists, and Papers
A New Government Articles of Confederation are simply not working The new constitution would address some of the more serious issues of the Articles Give the national government the power to tax Powerful executive National court system Restructured amendment process Determined that only NINE OF THE THIRTEEN states needed to ratify the new constitution for it to take effect Technically illegal though…
Federalist Papers Series of papers written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay Written under the name of “Publius” or “Common Man” 85 essays in total Argued for ratification of the new Constitution
Federalist No. 10 Federalist No. 10 addresses the issue of how to protect against factions, groups, with interest contrary to the rights of others Essentially, Madison is introducing the notion of “rule of the majority, rights of the minority” Argued for large republic Checking power of factions : Popular sovereignty will prevent minority factions from taking over Harder to prevent take over of a majority faction in a smaller democracy
Federalist No. 51 Federalist No. 51 focused on the need for power within the central government to be fractured Argued for a system of checks and balances All federal leaders should be elected…except the members of the judicial branch Political motivation for rulings rather than legal ones Madison wanted to see the legislative branch further separated, and proposed a bicameral system Legislative branch speaks with the “true” voice of the public
Federalists and Anti Federalists Two sides will emerge when majority of the delegates in Philly decide to replace the Articles Federalists: strongly IN FAVOR of ratification of the current Constitution Anti-Federalists: strongly OPPOSED to ratification of the current Constitution Believed the delegates should be working to fix the Articles
Federalists Leaders: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay Views on the Articles of Confederation Anti-Federalists Leaders: Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Samuel Adams Views on the Articles of Confederation
Views on Articles of Confederation Federalists Viewed the Articles as weak, and no amount of amending would be able to compensate for this weakness Favored ratification Anti-Federalists Believed that the Articles should be amended or fixed Feared that a strong president and powerful Congress would lead to tyranny Opposed ratification
Federalists Leaders: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay Views on Articles Viewed the Articles as weak Favored ratification of a new constitution Views on a strong national government Anti-Federalists Leaders: Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Samuel Adams Views on Articles Amend the Articles Opposed ratification of a new constitution Views on a strong national government
Views on strong national government Federalists Supported a stronger central government Only a strong central government can successfully keep the states together Anti-Federalists Did not want a strong central government Government would be too far removed from the people Thought it would lead to tyranny Keep power with the states
Federalists Leaders: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay Views on Articles Viewed the Articles as weak Favored ratification of a new constitution Views on a strong national government Supported a stronger central government Views on individual rights Anti-Federalists Leaders: Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Samuel Adams Views on Articles Amend the Articles Opposed ratification of a new constitution Views on a strong national government Power should stay with the states Views on individual rights
Views on individual rights Federalists Did not believe that additional individual rights needed to be added to the Constitution Offered some protection (i.e. habeas corpus, ex post facto laws) Most states already had their own bills of rights Because power would be fragmented, it would be impossible for one branch to take over Anti-Federalists Believed that the exclusion of a bill of rights would allow the government to become too powerful Federal government might strip people of their rights
Federalists Leaders: James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay Views on Articles Viewed the Articles as weak Favored ratification of a new constitution Views on a strong national government Supported a stronger central government Views on a bill of rights Not necessary since the Constitution would protect some rights Others guaranteed by state constitutions Anti-Federalists Leaders: Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Samuel Adams Views on Articles Amend the Articles Opposed ratification of a new constitution Views on a strong national government Power should stay with the states Views on a bill of rights Absolutely refused to consider a government that did not federally guarantee individual rights
Ratification Only nine of the original thirteen need to ratify the Constitution New Hampshire made 9, but the Constitution did not go into effect Needed New York and Virginia New York effectively separated the Union, and the country could not function if it refused to sign off Enough Anti-Federalists will be persuaded to ratify the Constitution with the promise to immediately amend it to include a bill of rights Over 100 proposed bills will be submitted