Anti-Federalists Argumentative Analysis

In the years leading up to the ratification of the Constitution there was many arguments going back and forth between the anti-federalists and the federalists. One of the biggest and strongest arguments for both sides came when they argued over legislative representation. For the anti-federalists under a false name to protect his identify John Francis Mercer spoke strongly about his political objections to the federalists under the name "A Maryland Farmer". Melancton Smith, another anti-federalist who spoke very strongly against the Federalists and brought up many important points in his speeches. Both Mercer and Smith feared that the power of legislative representation would fall into the hands of what they call the elites of society. With that happening the middle and lower
With the constant battles between the anti-federalists and the federalists it made sure that the American government would be a strong nation for the many years to come. The anti-federalist was against a strong federal government right from the start. They believed if the federal government got too strong it would just take all the power away from each individual state. The anti-federalists fought to expand the amount of representation and felt that on a larger scale corruption would be less likely to go on. Smith in his speeches states, "In so small a number of representatives, there is great danger from corruption and combination" (Melancton Smith, Speeches pg 583). Smith and the rest of the anti-federalists felt that if the representation was too small then factions will form. Factions within a government will form no matter what but factions within the most elites of society can be very detrimental to a government. John Mercer goes on too in his essays to say "The few representatives can always corrupt themselves by legislative speculations, from the pockets of their numerous