Federalist & Antifederalist Positions

1 Federalist & Antifederalist PositionsIssueFederalistsAntifederalists NotesA Constitutionestablishing a strongcentral governmentFavoredOpposed The chief worry ofthe Antifederalistswas that the stateswould lose influencewith the growth inthe nationalgovernment s powerPower of thirteen statesFavored limiting statepower. Argued thatSenate (with tworepresentatives perstate) adequatelyrepresented stateinterestsStrong supported powerand influence of states Local control waskey to Antifederalistconcept ofdemocracy. Thisissue would boil upin states rightsfights in 1800sBill of RightsNot necessarySupported as essential The absence of a Billof Rights in theoriginal Constitutionwas seen as a realthreat to individualcitizens libertiesArticles of ConfederationOpposed asineffectual as agoverning power waslimited to requestingcooperation needed to beamended, not abandoned The decision at theAnnapolisConvention (1786)

2 To suggest a nationalconvention tomodify the Articlesproved to be of the nationA large republic wasseen as the bestprotection forindividual freedomsOnly a small republiccould protect rights No experiment indemocracy on ascale of America hadever been farmers,merchants, artisansSmall farmers, oftenfrom rural areas Only a few wealthymen (Mason andRandolph ofVirginia, Gerry ofMassachusetts)joined theAntifederalists.*Based on The American Journey: A History of the United States by Goldfield, et al.