Federalists v. AntiFederalists

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Federalists v. Anti-Federalists

• On Whether We Needed a Bill of Rights

Bill of Rights Institute August 06, 2007 Artemus
Ward Department of Political Science Northern
Illinois University
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The Debate Over the U.S. Constitution

• During the period of debate over the ratification
  of the Constitution, numerous independent local
  speeches and articles were published in
  newspapers all across the country.
• The articles in favor of the Constitution were
  written under the pseudonym Publius. The
  authors were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison,
  and John Jay. They were not only drafted as
  propaganda for ratification but also to influence
  the interpretation of the Constitution, which as
  a compromise document, had many provisions which
  could be interpreted in different ways. The
  essays were collected by publishers right from
  the beginning and published together in various
  forms. As such, they became an important tool for
  judges and other political actors in interpreting
  the Constitution.
• Initially, many of the articles in opposition to
  the Constitution were written under pseudonyms,
  such as Cato, Brutus, Centinel, and
  Federal Farmeractually George Clinton, Robert
  Yates, Samuel Bryan, Melancton Smith, and Richard
  Henry Lee among others. Eventually, famous
  revolutionary figures such as Patrick Henry came
  out publicly against the Constitution. Unlike the
  authors of the Federalist Papers who worked
  together, the Anti-Federalist papers were not a
  coordinated effort. Scholars later published the
  best and most influential of these articles and
  speeches into a collection which came to be known
  as the Anti-Federalist Papers.

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Who Were the Federalists?

• Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) was the primary
  intellectual force for nationalism throughout the
  founding period, was Washingtons most trusted
  advisor, and the principle architect of the
  nations economic policy as Secretary of the
  Treasury.
• James Madison (I) (1751-1836) was aligned with
  Hamilton and the Federalists early on and was the
  principle architect of the Constitution. As a
  member of the House of Representatives, he
  drafted the Bill of Rights and introduced it in
  the first Congress.
• Both Hamilton and Madison wrote most of the
  Federalist papers. John Jay only wrote a few as
  he was ill and unable to participate more fully.

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The Federalists Argument

• In Federalist No. 84, Hamilton argued It has
  been several times truly remarked, that bills of
  rights are in their origin, stipulations between
  kings and their subjects, abridgments of
  prerogative in favor of privilege, reservations
  of rights not surrendered to the prince. Such was
  Magna Carta, obtained by the Barons, sword in
  hand, from king John...It is evident, therefore,
  that according to their primitive signification,
  they have no application to constitutions
  professedly founded upon the power of the people,
  and executed by their immediate representatives
  and servants. Here, in strictness, the people
  surrender nothing, and as they retain every
  thing, they have no need of particular
  reservations. "We the people of the United
  States, to secure the blessings of liberty to
  ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and
  establish this constitution for the United States
  of America." Here is a better recognition of
  popular rights than volumes of those aphorisms
  which make the principal figure in several of our
  state bills of rights, and which would sound much
  better in a treatise of ethics than in a
  constitution of government....
• I go further, and affirm that bills of rights, in
  the sense and in the extent in which they are
  contended for, are not only unnecessary in the
  proposed constitution, but would even be
  dangerous. They would contain various exceptions
  to powers which are not granted and on this very
  account, would afford a colorable pretext to
  claim more than were granted. For why declare
  that things shall not be done which there is no
  power to do? Why for instance, should it be said,
  that the liberty of the press shall not be
  restrained, when no power is given by which
  restrictions may be imposed? I will not contend
  that such a provision would confer a regulating
  power but it is evident that it would furnish,
  to men disposed to usurp, a plausible pretense
  for claiming that power.

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Who Were the Anti-Federalists?

• George Mason (1725-1792) wrote the Virginia
  Declaration of Rights, detailing specific rights
  of citizens, which became the model for the
  Declaration of Independence and the first ten
  Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
• Patrick Henry (1736-1799) was a prominent figure
  in the Revolution, known for his "Give me liberty
  or give me death" speech, Governor of Virginian
  and a radical rights advocate.

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The Anti-Federalist Argument

• At the Virginia Ratification Convention, Patrick
  Henry spoke If you give up these powers, without
  a bill of rights, you will exhibit the most
  absurd thing to mankind that ever the world saw
  government that has abandoned all its powers
  the powers of direct taxation, the sword, and the
  purse. You have disposed of them to Congress,
  without a bill of rights without check,
  limitation, or control. And still you have checks
  and guards still you keep barriers pointed
  where? Pointed against your weakened, prostrated,
  enervated state government! You have a bill of
  rights to defend you against the state
  government, which is bereaved of all power, and
  yet you have none against Congress, though in
  full and exclusive possession of all power! You
  arm yourselves against the weak and defenseless,
  and expose yourselves naked to the armed and
  powerful. Is not this a conduct of unexampled
  absurdity? What barriers have you to oppose to
  this most strong, energetic government? To that
  government you have nothing to oppose. All your
  defense is given up. This is a real, actual
  defect. It must strike the mind of every
  gentleman.

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Article 7 10 of 13 States Needed for
Ratification
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Compromise Ratification and a Bill of Rights

• Overall, the Federalists were more organized in
  their efforts and ultimately succeeded but not
  before compromising with the Anti-Federalists on
  the issue of a Bill of Rights.
• Five states ratified the Constitution quickly and
  relatively easily Delaware (30-0), Pennsylvania
  (46-23), New Jersey (38-0), Georgia (26-0), and
  Connecticut (128-40).
• Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia remained
  and would be crucial in terms of population
  stature for the new government to succeed.
• Debates in Massachusetts were very heated, with
  impassioned speeches from those on both sides of
  the issue. Massachusetts was finally won,
  187-168, but only after assurances to opponents
  that the Constitution could have a bill of rights
  added to it.
• Subsequently, Maryland (63-11) and South Carolina
  (149-73) agreed and New Hampshire (57-47) cast
  the deciding vote to reach the required nine
  states.
• The votes in Virginia (89-79) and New York
  (30-27) were hard-won, and close. Confidence was
  now high that the new government would succeed.
• Making good on their promise, a number of
  amendments were passed by Congress, allying the
  fears of the holdout states.
• North Carolina (194-77) and finally Rhode Island
  (34-32) relented and ratified well over a year
  after the Constitution took effect.

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TheTwo-Party System

• Following the passage of the Constitution and
  what became known as the Bill of Rights, the
  divisions between the Federalists and
  Anti-Federalists coalesced around the issue of
  federalismspecifically the aggressive fiscal
  policies of Federalist Alexander Hamilton.
• Federalists favored broad construction of the
  Constitution and strong national powers. George
  Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and
  John Marshall were proponents of this general
  philosophy.
• Anti-Federalists favored strict-construction of
  the Constitution and advocated popular (States)
  rights against what they saw as aristocratic,
  centralizing tendencies of their opponents.
  Thomas Jeffersons Democratic-Republican Party
  formed around these beliefs and included James
  Madison (II), James Monroe who both succeeded
  Jefferson as President during The Virginia
  Dynasty (1801-25).
• In one form or another, these two competing
  philosophies have dominated American politics
  throughout its 200-year history from the Civil
  War to regulating the economy during the New Deal
  to current debates over abortion.

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Further Reading

• The Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers have
  been collected in numerous forms including cheap
  paperback versions and now on-line for free.
• Some Secondary Sources
• Amar, Akhil Reed. 2005. America's Constitution A
  Biography. New York Random House.
• Chernow, Ron. 2004. Alexander Hamilton. New York
  Penguin Books.
• Storing, Herbert J. 1981. What the
  Anti-Federalists Were For The Political Thought
  of the Opponents of the Constitution. Chicago
  University of Chicago Press.