The Struggle for Ratification

1
The Struggle for Ratification

• Chapter 5
• Section 2

2
The Federalists

• Federalists are supporters of the Constitution.
  They support a strong federal or national
  government.
• They argue that individual states might not be
  able to protect themselves against foreign
  nations.
• They also believed that a strong national
  government would provide protection, maintain
  order, regulate trade, and guarantee the rights
  of the citizens.
• They also wanted a strong national government to
  ensure that the nations debts were paid and the
  American money had a stable value at home and in
  foreign countries.

3
The Anti-Federalists

• Anti-Federalists are opponents of the
  Constitution.
• They feared a strong central government would
  endanger the peoples liberties.
• They believed that a central government that met
  so far away from local communities could not be
  called a government by consent of the people.
• They believed that representatives should meet in
  a location close to the people whose interests
  they sought to protect.

4
The Anti- Federalists

• What was the statement in the Constitution that
  worried the Anti-Federalists?
• The wording, the Anti-Federalists argued, left
  the door open to interpretation.
• A strong national government could interpret the
  statement as allowing laws that swallow up state
  governments.

5
The Anti-Federalists

• They were also very troubled by the fact that the
  Constitution did not have a bill of right.
• This they thought meant that a strong national
  government might not respect citizens rights.
  The Federalists argued that a bill of rights was
  not necessary because what?
• Who was a strong Anti-Federalist voice?

6
The Federalist Papers

• The Federalists responded to Patrick Henrys
  cries in a series of essays that were
  pro-Constitution.
• Who wrote these essays? When were they written?
  Where were they published? How many were there?
• These essays outlined the need for a new
  government and the form that this new government
  should take.

7
The Federalist Papers

• Alexander Hamilton argued that the Articles of
  Confederation were not enough to sustain the
  country.
• In one of his essays he attempted to convince the
  readers the need for the Constitution.
• Madison argued that the Constitution would
  protect the liberty of every citizen representing
  all the people.

8
The Federalist Papers

• The essays also emphasized the problems America
  faced as a weak, immature nation on a large
  continent.
• If the states did not unite under a strong
  national government the forces of different super
  powers would take them over (i.e. Spain, France,
  or England).

9
The Ratification

• The Federalists were successful in their campaign
  for a strong national government.
• Who were two supporters of the Federalists?
• What happened that won over many other
  supporters?
• In June 1788, the new government was officially
  born when New Hampshire became the 9th state to
  ratify the Constitution.
• However, the Constitution was won by a small
  percentage of votes in each state.

10
Ratification

• This new government would not last long if how
  many states did not ratify the Constitution?
• How many people were represented in those states?
• Virginia ratified the Constitution with 89-79
  votes
• New York ratified the Constitution with 30-27
  votes.
• By the spring of 1790, all 13 states had ratified
  the Constitution. The loose nation of states had
  now become the independent nation of the
• UNITED STATES OF AMERICA