Federalism Vs Federalists

930 Words4 Pages
After surprisingly overcoming the British government, America made its next step to build their nation and started out by creating a form of government that would benefit all classes of people in the new nation. The Articles of Confederation were created as the first set of laws that the states would conform to. Unfortunately, the Articles led to a chaotic period where the nation found themselves in the same spot they started from. The Articles lacked the balance of powers needed to sustain a government. Because of these problems sprouting up in the country, the leaders began to draw apart from each other and create different views on how to fix their government. The leaders of the government formed two parties that had opposite views. Due…show more content…
The Federalists decided among themselves that a strong federal government under the supervision of the wealthy and elite of the country would prosper. The Federalists argued that having strong state governments would lead to a lack of progress in the government as a whole. Particularly, in a newspaper called, The Massachusetts Sentinel, the Federalists disputed over the condition of the nation in an excerpt saying,”Let us look and behold the distresses which prevail in every part of our country...the complaints of our farmers...the complaints of every class of public creditors...the melancholy faces of our working people, our ships rotting in our harbors...the insults that are offered to the American name and character in every court of Europe.” At the time, the United States made no improvement and started to go downhill. Henceforth, the nation was…show more content…
This party opposed the ratification because they believed that it would not fix the problems of the country, but increase the problems and lead to its destruction. An excerpt from Mercy Otis Warren’s book,”Observations on the New Federal Constitution and on the Federal and State Conventions”, explains,” The executive and the legislature are so dangerously blended that they give cause for alarm...There is no provision for a rotation nor anything else to prevent a political office from remaining in the same hands for life.” Warren clarifies that with a new Constitution in full effect, the disproportion between the executive and the legislature was too closely integrated that the government would not last for a long period of time. The Anti-Federalists also argued that there would be a lack of rights for the people of the country. According to Patrick Henry,”Our rights and privileges are endangered, and the sovereignty of the states will be relinquished, The rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press...are rendered insecure.” Patrick Henry, like many others in his party, opposed the idea of ratifying the Constitution because they felt that their rights would be taken away, leading them back to the same situation they were in with Great
Show More
Related

  • How Federalism Has Evolved Essay

    627 Words  | 3 Pages

    How Federalism Has Evolved When the forefathers created the Constitution and laid down the outline for the government of the United States, they gave the federal government far more power than they originally had. However, a main goal of theirs was to maintain the power of the states. The Federalists supported this change. The anti-Federalists, on the other hand, were strictly opposed to it and protested it bitterly. They feared that a central government with so much power would take away power

    Read More

  • Antifederaliss Vs Federalists

    924 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hang Truong APUSH- 6th Period Mr. Graham 24 October 2014 Federalists vs. Antifederalists The antifederalists were a group of people who opposed the ratification of the Constitution. They believed that much power would be taken away from the people of local governments and given to strengthen the federal government. They felt that the interests of the poor and common folks were not as supported as that of wealthy by the new government. Many feared the return of a monarchy similar to that of Great

    Read More

More about Federalism Vs Federalists

Open Document