Essay On Federalist And Anti-Federalists

During the Constitutional Period, there were two groups of people; one group called the Federalists, wanted a stronger national government and one group called the Anti-Federalists, opposed the development of a national government. The Federalists ratified the Constitution to help properly manage the debt and tensions following the American Revolution. The Anti-Federalists opposed the development of a strong federal government and the ratification of the Constitution, preferring instead for power to remain in the hands of state and local governments. Although the Anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in the prevention of the adoption of the Constitution, their efforts were responsible for the creation and implementation of the Bill of Rights.
Even though, both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists were unsure and believed many things that Congress should have, they believed different things about who should have the power and what should the Bill of Rights and the Articles of Confederation should do. Without a doubt, both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists had many similarities as well. Both groups were unsure of which form of government would be the best and what rights the government should protect. Also, both groups wanted to keep liberties for the people, they wanted some form of government, and the right to vote. Even though, both Federalists and Anti-Federalists were made from the Washington Cabinet, but they believed that the president should be voted on by the general public. In addition to that, they believed that Congress should have the power to create war and power to create treaties. However, both Federalists and Anti-Federalists had some major differences in beliefs as well.
For example, the Federalists were going for the Constitution and they wanted a centralized government. They believed in the Bill of Rights and have two representative from each state. In addition to that, they wanted Congress to have the power over tax and to be able to regulate trade. They wanted the separation of powers into three independent branches protected the rights of people and each branch represented a different part of the people, so all three branches were equal, then there were not specific group could assume control over another group. The Federalists wanted to ratify the Constitution. James Madison argued that, “A dependent on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions” (Scott 112). For the Anti-Federalists, they were going for the Articles of Confederation and they wanted State's Right. They believed that an all power government is abstruse, or difficult to understand. Also, they believed that having a president in a central government would ended up with the people seeing the president as a king. They did not want to ratify the Constitution. When it came to voting, they wanted each state to act as a whole, and have one vote for each state. James Winthrop argued that “To promote the happiness of the people it is necessary that there should be local laws; and it is
necessary that those laws should be made by the representatives of those who are immediately subject to the want of them” (Scott 115). In conclusion, even though during the Constitutional Period both Federalists and Anti-Federalists were unsure and believed in many things Congress should have or do, there were some major diversities in beliefs. Although, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists wanted to keep liberties in people and in some form of government, but both groups were going in different direction in term of government. The Federalists believed in the Bill of Rights and they were going towards the Constitution with a centralized government. The Anti-Federalists believed in the Articles of Confederation and they were going towards an all power government with state’s right.