Federalist Paper #15
The Federlists and Anti-Federlists both saw a need for change in the government. The
only poblem with this is that the two had almost opposite ideas although they realized the the
Articles of Confederation didn't have enough power. The main obstacle was how much power
should the new government have. The Federalist form of government provided the best
government of the two.
Alexander Hamilton was unsatisfied with the Articles of Confederation. He feels that the
U.S has reached the "last stage of humiliation," due to a lac of a military, large debts, a lack of
money, lack of respect by foreign powers, territories in the possession of a foreign power,
inability to navigate the Mississippi River, lack of commerce, …show more content…
unavailability of credit, and
decrease in property value. Hamilton urges for these reasons the country must stand for dignity,
reputation, tranquility, and safety. Hamilton believed government was created because groups of
men act with greater intelligence than individuals alone because there reputation less affected. The Anti-Federalists all had their own opinions on the Constitution but there were a few
ideas that most of them shared. They believed that the government created by the Constitution
was too strong. Another shared idea was that the Constitution didn't establish a federal
government. They felt that it created a national government that would eventually destroy the
sovereignty of the states. The Anti-Federalists feared what Congress could do with a combination
of control over the army, the judicial powers, and taxations. There was also no clause reserving
powers, which led to the fear of a Congress that could become sovereign and use the army to
collect taxes. The judges of the supreme court could mold the government to how they wish since
the meaning of the Constitution was defined be the supreme court.
The Anti-Federalists were hesitant to grant power because they didn't want a government
similar to the one they just expelled. They thought the Constitution granted to much power and it
did not restrain the yielding of it. The Anti-Federalists concluded that to vest total power in a
national government was dangerous and unnecessary. Another great fear of the Anti-Federalists
was that all the power was going to be given the upper class. If only the rich were chosen to
Congress there would be a struggle for honor, wealth, and power resulting in the oppression of the
poor. The Anti-Federalists wanted to maintain the liberty of all Americans.
The Anti-Federalists had a lot of criticism with the Executive, Legislative, and Judicary
branches.
The Anti-Federalists thought the House should be democratic so that it represented the
public opinion. The Anti-Federalists were glad to see a Senate because it was a federal feature.
They didn't see anything wrong with the states being represented by Senators. They didn't like
however, that Senators weren't responsible to the legislature that elected them, so they could
become uncontrollable. Other things to dislike about the Senate was its control over treaties, right
to alter money bills, and Senators were impeached by their own house. Anti-Federalists thought
the President got to much power but they were ready to except a stronger executive then they
currently had. The Anti-Federalists had many viable points regarding the three branches but were
willing to compromise.
The Federalist Contitution provided the best government for America. America needed a
government with more power. The state governments created under the Articles of Confederation
were too weak and couldn't deal with large problems. The Constitution would help to unite
and
bond all the states into one government. The central government would act directly upon the
people, and the state would act as an extension of the national government closest to the people.
A strong central government provided more protection and would help America grow wealthier.
Another positive is it is cheaper to support one strong central government then 13 individual state
governments. A central government is a better fit for Amerca then a collection of individual state
governments that acted separately.