Anti-Federalism
Anti-Federalism was the name given to two distinct counter-movements in the late
18th Century American politics:
* The first Anti-Federalist movement formed in reaction to the
Federalist movement of the 1780s. It opposed the creation of a stronger national government under the
Constitution and sought to leave the government under the
Articles of Confederation intact.
* The second Anti-Federalist movement formed in reaction to
Alexander Hamilton's aggressive fiscal policies of
George Washington's first administration. This movement is sometimes called the
Anti-Administration "Party", and it would coalesce into one of the nation's first two true political parties, the
Republican Party of
Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison (not to be confused with the
modern Republican Party).
The Federalist movement of the 1780s was motivated by the proposition that the national government under the
Articles of Confederation was too weak, and needed to be amended or replaced. Eventually, they managed to get the national government to sanction a convention to amend the Articles. When this convention concluded and published the proposed
Constitution, opposition to its ratification immediately appeared. This opposition was composed of diverse elements: there were those who opposed the Constitution because they thought that a stronger government threatened the sovereignty and prestige of the states, localities, or individuals, there were those who fancied they saw in the government proposed a new centralized, disguised "monarchic" power that would only replace the cast-off despotism of Great Britain, and there were those who simply feared that the new government threatened their personal interests.
Some of the opposition believed that the central government under the Articles of Confederation was sufficient; others believed that while the national government under the Articles was too weak, the national government under the Constitution would be too strong,
During the period of debate over the ratification of the Constitution, numerous independent local speeches and articles were published all across the country. Initially, many of the articles in opposition were written under pseudonyms, such as "Brutus", "Centinel", and "Federal Farmer". Eventually, famous revolutionary figures such as
Patrick Henry and
Thomas Jefferson came out publicly against the Constitution. They argued that the strong national government proposed by the Federalists was a threat to the rights of individuals and that the
President would become a king. They objected to the federal court system created by the proposed constitution. This produced a phenomenal body of political writing; the best and most influential of these articles and speeches were gathered by historians into a collection known as the
Anti-Federalist Papers in allusion to the
Federalist Papers.
In every state the opposition to the Constitution was strong, and in two states â€"
North Carolina and
Rhode Island â€" it prevented ratification until the definite establishment of the new government practically forced their adhesion. Individualism was the strongest element of opposition; the necessity, or at least the desirability, of a bill of rights was almost universally felt.
The Anti-Federalists were able to play upon these feelings in the ratification convention in
Massachusetts. By this point, five of the states had ratified the Constitution with relative ease, but the Massachusetts convention was far more bitter and contentious. Finally, after long debate, a compromise (known as the "
Massachusetts compromise") was reached: Massachusetts would ratify the Constitution, but include in the ratifying instrument a recommendation that the Constitution be amended with a bill of rights. (The Federalists contended that a conditional ratification would be void, so the recommendation was the strongest support that the ratifying convention could give to a bill of rights short of rejecting the Constitution.)
Four of the next five states to ratify, including
New Hampshire,
Virginia, and
New York, included similar language in their ratification instruments. As a result, once the Constitution became operative in 1789, Congress sent a set of twelve amendments to the states. Ten of these amendments were immediately ratified and became known as the
Bill of Rights. Thus, while the Anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in their quest to prevent the adoption of the Constitution, their efforts were not totally in vain. This cemented the Anti-Federalists as among the founding fathers of the United States.
With the passage of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, both the first Federalist and Anti-Federalist movement were exhausted. However, a second Federalist movement almost immediately arose, this time to support the aggressive fiscal policies of Alexander Hamilton. In turn, this ignited a second Anti-Federalist opposition. The composition of this second movement was different and broader than the first. The
Federalist movement gradually showed broad-construction, nationalistic tendencies; the Anti-Federalist movement favored strict-constructionism and advocated popular rights against the asserted aristocratic, centralizing tendencies of its opponent, and gradually was transformed into the
Democratic-Republican Party (United States) of Thomas Jefferson.
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U. of Chicago – Documents relating to founding of US Constitution
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Antifederalist Papers – Antifederalist Papers Constitution Society
