Federalists and Anti-Federalists Fight Over the

Constitution
By USHistory.org, adapted by Newsela staff on 04.27.17
Word Count 782
Level 970L

Signing of the Constitution by Louis S. Glanzman. Commissioned by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The three branches of American federal government — executive, legislative and judicial — are
important to how the country runs today. But, after the American Revolution, there were heated
arguments about whether they should exist at all.

Articles of Confederation

The first Constitution of the new America was called the Articles of Confederation. At the time,
there were only 13 states in the country, and the Articles gave a lot of power to the individual
states. By comparison, the national, or federal, government — led by the president — had less
power.

However, many leaders believed the Articles of Confederation needed to be rewritten. They came
together to write a new Constitution at a meeting called the Philadelphia Convention.

Among the many changes, the new Constitution would give more power to the central, or federal,
government.

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But many questions remained, and not everyone agreed on what had been written.

Could this proposed system be made into law for the whole U.S.?

Federalists

The supporters of the new Constitution called themselves "Federalists." They favored a stronger
central government, with less power for the states.

For Federalists, the Constitution was important to protect the liberty and independence that the
American Revolution had created.

The Federalists had many talented leaders on their side. For example, the most popular celebrities
of the period, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, favored the Constitution. In addition,
the Federalists were well organized, had money, and had the support of many newspapers.

While they had advantages, the Federalists had a hard fight in front of them. Their new solutions
would be a big change from the traditional political beliefs in this period. Most people were
suspicious of a more powerful central government — it reminded them too much of being ruled by
the cruel British royals.

The Federalists believed that the greatest threat to the future of the country was not from the
abuse of central power. Instead, they feared that the common people could get too much power.
They had just seen the Shays' Rebellion. In that event, many poor rural farmers rose up in anger to
try to overthrow the state government in Massachusetts. These farmers believed the government
was unfair in forcing poor farmers to pay taxes to the government and pay back debts they owed.

Anti-Federalists

The anti-Federalists were a group of people who opposed the new Constitution. They were less
organized than the Federalists, but they also had an impressive group of leaders.

Many powerful, rich men were anti-Federalists, such as Patrick Henry and George Mason of
Virginia, who were seen as leaders of the common people. Many ordinary Americans were also
anti-Federalists, particularly farmers. Many of them were from the western parts of the country
that were just beginning to be settled.

The anti-Federalists believed in one great threat to the future of the country: the government's
potential to become corrupt and overpowering. America had just overthrown the British, whom
they saw as oppressive, and didn't want to be ruled by a cruel king again.

To anti-Federalists, the new Constitution would allow America to be led by a corrupt government.

All three branches of the new central government threatened anti-Federalists' belief in a weaker
government.

For one, they feared how it gave more powers to the president. In the new law, the president could
overturn decisions made by the legislature, whose members were seen as leaders of the common
people.

One part of Congress would be the House of Representatives. This new national House of
Representatives would have just 55 members, which was quite smaller than most state legislatures

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at the time. Meanwhile, the Senate would have so few members that only rich, powerful men were
likely to be elected.

The new legislature would also have more power over money, especially the right to raise taxes.
Because of this, the anti-Federalists feared that Congress would soon pass unfair taxes, and then
use its national army to threaten people who didn't pay the taxes.

The most powerful argument by the anti-Federalists was that the new Constitution did not much
protect individual freedoms. In that era, many states had written their own constitutions. They
often included a clear protection of individual rights that could not be intruded upon by the
government. This bill of rights was seen as a major improvement over the old British constitution,
which didn't have clear protections for individual freedoms.

The future of the nation

Why, then, didn't the leaders at the Philadelphia Convention include a bill of rights in their
proposed Constitution? This made anti-Federalists suspicious.

The anti-Federalists and Federalists agreed on one thing: the future of the nation was at stake in
the contest over the Constitution.

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Quiz

1 Fill in the blank.

The author MAINLY explains the role of the Federalists and anti-Federalists at the Philadelphia Convention by ___.

(A) emphasizing the contributions of individual leaders

(B) providing the leaders' questions and arguments

(C) showing who wrote parts of the Constitution

(D) describing each group's beliefs and fears

2 Which answer choice accurately characterizes the Federalists' reaction to Shays' Rebellion?

(A) The rebellion led Federalists to believe the central government needed a bigger army so it could more
easily handle protests.

(B) The rebellion led Federalists to believe other groups might also challenge the central government if it
were not more powerful.

(C) The Federalists blamed the Articles of Confederation for giving farmers enough power to fight the
government over taxes.

(D) The Federalists blamed the anti-Federalists for convincing farmers in Massachusetts that the
government was corrupt.

3 According to the article, which person and group MOST supported protection of individual rights?

(A) George Washington; anti-Federalists

(B) George Mason; anti-Federalists

(C) Benjamin Franklin; Federalists

(D) Patrick Henry; Federalists

4 What is the purpose of the following statement from the article?

The new legislature would also have more power over money, especially the right to raise taxes.
Because of this, the anti-Federalists feared that Congress would soon pass unfair taxes, and then
use its national army to threaten people who didn't pay the taxes.

(A) It shows how anti-Federalists were sympathetic to the concerns of common people and farmers.

(B) It explains why the anti-Federalists did not want to have a strong national army.

(C) It reflects the leaders' concerns about future rebellions and protests.

(D) It describes how the leaders dismissed the fears of farmers.

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