Anti-Federalists Vs Anti-Federalists
When a new plan of government was presented in the ratification of the Constitution, two coalitions of people were created: Federalists, who supported the new Constitution; and the Anti-Federalists, who were against the new form of government. During the Constitutional Convention, both parties presented their case, their form of government and evidence supporting why that was the best way for America to be governed. America must have a National and a State government in order to function properly and fulfill its people’s needs.
On the one hand, there is Centinel, an Anti-federalist that argues in The Small Republic Argument that a good government is a small and simple one with a strong state government, which means less territory and people, …show more content…
But on the contrary to what Centinel says, Madison creates a good government by controlling the effect of factions which are created by equality. Madison argues that “politicians have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality, they would at the same time be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions” (42). According to Madison, the greatest threat are factions and in order to cure them, Madison presents two ways: “Remove the causes by destroying liberty or control the effects by denying them the opportunity to act. In the first solution, it can be said that “the cure is worse than the disease”, while in the second one factions can be controlled by creating a large republic, this means a diversity of interests that would make it hard for factions to act” (39).
Madison responds to Centinel’s statement of a “good government” by saying that “however small the republic may be, the representatives must be raised to a certain number in order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that however large it may be, they must be limited to a certain number in order to guard against the confusion of a multitude” (42). What Centinel tries to state is that The Federal Constitution is a mix of a national and state government where there is a central power but each state remain
On the one hand, there is Centinel, an Anti-federalist that argues in The Small Republic Argument that a good government is a small and simple one with a strong state government, which means less territory and people, …show more content…
But on the contrary to what Centinel says, Madison creates a good government by controlling the effect of factions which are created by equality. Madison argues that “politicians have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality, they would at the same time be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions” (42). According to Madison, the greatest threat are factions and in order to cure them, Madison presents two ways: “Remove the causes by destroying liberty or control the effects by denying them the opportunity to act. In the first solution, it can be said that “the cure is worse than the disease”, while in the second one factions can be controlled by creating a large republic, this means a diversity of interests that would make it hard for factions to act” (39).
Madison responds to Centinel’s statement of a “good government” by saying that “however small the republic may be, the representatives must be raised to a certain number in order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that however large it may be, they must be limited to a certain number in order to guard against the confusion of a multitude” (42). What Centinel tries to state is that The Federal Constitution is a mix of a national and state government where there is a central power but each state remain