Adapted from We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, Level 2, Lesson 18 and
The American Journey: A History of the United States by Goldfield et al.
Federalists and Anti-Federalists
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

Remember that
Article VII in the
The Federalists were the people who Constitution
supportedsaid
that the Constitution
ratifying the Constitution.
would go into effect
after it had been
They encouraged the states to put together
their
ratified by 9 of the 13
ratifying conventions as soon as possible
in order to
state conventions.
ratify the Constitution.
The
Federalists
were mainly
large farmers,
merchants,
and artisans.
James Madison
Alexander Hamilton
John Jay
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 Also known as the Federalist
Papers
 Series of articles or papers
written for a New York
newspaper supporting
ratification
 One of the most important
explanations of
constitutional government
ever written
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“If men were angels, no
government would be
necessary. If angels were
to govern men, neither
external nor internal
controls on government
would be necessary. In
framing a government
which is to be
administered by men over
men, the great difficulty
lies in this: you must first
enable the government to
control the governed; and
in the next place oblige it
to control itself.” – James
Madison
“Liberty is to faction what
air is to fire…” – James
Madison
“Give all the power to the
many, they will oppress the
few. Give all the power to the
few, they will oppress the
many.” – Alexander
Hamilton
“Those who stand for
nothing fall for anything.”
– Alexander Hamilton
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 The Anti-Federalists were the people who opposed
ratifying the Constitution
The Anti-Federalists
were mainly small
farmers, often from
Edmund
rural areas. Only
a Randolf
George Mason
few wealthy men
(like Mason and
Randolf) joined the
Anti-Federalists.
Richard Henry
Lee
John Hancock
Elbridge Gerry
Samuel Adams
Patrick Henry
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 While the Federalist Papers
presented arguments in favor of
ratifying the Constitution, the
Anti-Federalist papers presented
arguments against ratification
 These articles were mostly
written by authors with
pseudonyms
 They were warning the people of
the dangers of tyranny that were
not protected by the
Constitution
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“I had rather be a free
citizen of the small
republic of Massachusetts
than an oppressed subject
of the great American
empire.”
“In proportion as the
people lose their freedom,
every gradation of
distinction, between the
Governors and governed
obtains, until the former
become masters, and the
latter become slaves.”
“It is very easy to change a
free government into an
arbitrary one, but that it is
very difficult to convert
tyranny into freedom.”
“…every body of men,
invested with power, are
ever disposed to increase it.”
“It is beyond doubt that the
new federal constitution, if
adopted, will in great
measure destroy, if not
annihilate, the separate
governments of the several
states.”
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 The main thing Federalists and Anti-Federalists had
conflict over was whether to throw out the Articles of
Confederation or to keep the Articles of Confederation
 Other areas where they disagreed:
 The concentration of power
 Should the power be concentrated in one strong national
government or divided among the separate state
governments?
 Inclusion of a Bill of Rights
 Does the Constitution in its original composition protect the
rights of the people or should the rights of the people be
clearly outlined?
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Federalists
Anti-Federalists
 Toss the Articles of
 Keep the Articles of
Confederation
 Favored strong central
government
 Believed the Constitution
in its original form would
protect the rights of the
people
Confederation
 Favored power divided
among state governments
 People should be protected
from the power of
government by having
clearly outlined rights
 Very distrustful of
government
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 On your Fed Up: Classifying Arguments Handout, you
should have written down some general information about
the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
• Your job: INDIVIDUALLY decide which arguments
in Part II are arguments of the Federalists (mark
with an F) and which are arguments of the AntiFederalists (mark with an A)
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 Get into a group of 4 people. Discuss your
responses and come to an agreement on which
arguments belong to the Federalist and AntiFederalists.
 Your group will have two signs:
F
A
When the argument comes up on the slide, hold up
the “F” if it is an argument made by the Federalists or
the “A” if it is an argument made by the AntiFederalists.
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We oppose a strong central government.
The states will lose their influence with
the growth in the national government’s
power. .
AntiFederalists
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The necessary and proper clause
(Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution)
is needed if the national
government is to do the things it
is responsible for doing.
Federalists
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The national government cannot
become a tyranny because there are
limits placed on it through
separation of powers and checks
and balances. Government will
protect the rights of the people in
return for their loyalty and support.
Federalists
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We oppose the Articles of Confederation. It
isn’t effective as a governing document.
We need a stronger central government. We
need to ratify the new government framed
by the Constitution.
Federalists
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The Constitution’s supremacy clause
makes the national government’s laws
superior to the state governments’ laws.
This will destroy the state governments
in favor of the national government.
AntiFederalists
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We support a strong central
government. The national
government needs to be strong to
function.
Federalists
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Republic governments only worked
in small communities where the
people had similar wealth and the
same values. The new nation will
be too large and diverse, and the
people will be unable to work
toward the common good.
AntiFederalists
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A strong executive is needed if the national
government is to fulfill its responsibilities.
There are checks and balances on the
branches of government so no one branch,
including the executive branch, can have too
much power.
Federalists
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It is essential to include a Bill of Rights to
protect people from the national government.
The absence of a Bill of Rights is a real threat
to individual liberties of citizens. There is no
mention of freedoms like religion, speech,
press, or assembly.
AntiFederalists
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The Articles of Confederation need to be
amended, not abandoned. The Constitution
goes too far. A stronger national government
will threaten state power. This new
Constitution will create a government the
people cannot control.
AntiFederalists
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The Supremacy Clause (Article I, Section 8
of the U.S. Constitution) is an assurance that
the Constitution is the Supreme law of
the land. The Constitution will protect
state governments by giving them
certain powers. This will keep the
national government from intruding
on the powers left to the states.
Federalists
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The necessary and proper clause is too
general and gives too much power to the
national government. All of the powers
of government should be listed so
appropriate limits can be placed on
them.
AntiFederalists
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The Constitution gives too much
power to the executive branch.
There is the threat that it will
become a monarchy.
AntiFederalists
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Free government requires
participation of all the people. If the
national government is far from
where the people live, the people will
not be able to participate. This may
result in tyranny.
AntiFederalists
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Federalists
A large republic where power is
divided between the national and
state governments will be a better
solution than the small republics
of the past that were destroyed
by self-interested citizens that
did not work for the common
good. A large republic is the best
protection for individual
freedoms.
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A Bill of Rights is not necessary. The
Constitution gives government only
limited power. If we have a Bill of
Rights, then only those rights listed may
be presumed to be protected. We cannot
list every right.
Federalists
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State representation
Citizen representation
Federalists
AntiFederalists
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 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Federalist.jpg/
220px-Federalist.jpg
 http://www.acps.k12.va.us/mason/images/george_mason.jpg
 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/images/photo35.jpg
 http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRWmxhYQpee0T9_1fgkvrHCqK5
cy9FYspP0JtCtJG3p3AWYJrjeeE4IqClkdA
 http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/300/349/adams_10_lg.gif
 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25093/25093-h/images/image8.jpg
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