Federalists: The Constitution's Founding Fathers

During the year-long debates over the ratification of the US Constitution, supporters of the Constitution called themselves Federalists. Their opponents, who were against the ratification, were known as Anti-Federalists. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, defended the Constitution's strengthened national government, with its greater congressional powers, more powerful executive, and independent judiciary. They argued that the new government supported the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, worried that the proposed constitution represented a betrayal of the principles of the American Revolution and that it threatened individual liberties.

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Federalists

Leading Federalists included Alexander Hamilton, who wrote 51 of the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays written by Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, that appeared in New York newspapers, primarily the Independent Journal and the New York Packet, between October 1787 and August 1788. The first of these was published under the pseudonym Publius on October 27, 1787, and was addressed to the people of New York, but aimed at the delegates to the state's Ratifying Convention. Other leading Federalists included Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, the only two national-level celebrities of the period.

Anti-Federalists

The Anti-Federalists were against the ratification of the 1787 U.S. Constitution. They were a diverse group with different views on what a new constitution should look like, but they agreed on a few key points. Firstly, they believed that the Constitution, as drafted, would lead to a loss of individual liberties and an erosion of state sovereignty. They also thought that the position of president might evolve into a monarchy. In addition, they advocated for a more decentralized form of government with greater protections for individual rights and stronger representation for the states.

The Anti-Federalists were chiefly concerned with too much power being invested in the national government at the expense of the states. They worried that the federal government would be too far removed to represent the average citizen and that the nation was too large for the national government to respond to the concerns of people on a state and local basis. They also believed that the central government under the Articles of Confederation was sufficient, and that the national government under the Constitution would be too strong.

The Anti-Federalists played an important role in the ratification fight. They mobilized against the Constitution in state legislatures across the country, with Anti-Federalists in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York making ratification contingent on a Bill of Rights. They published a series of articles and delivered numerous speeches against ratification of the Constitution, which have come to be known collectively as the Anti-Federalist Papers.

The Anti-Federalists included Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and Richard Henry Lee, heroes of the Revolutionary War who objected to the Constitution's consolidation of power. Other notable Anti-Federalists included Melancton Smith, Robert Yates, George Clinton, and Samuel Bryan.

The Federalist Papers

The first of the Federalist essays was published in a New York newspaper, under the pseudonym Publius, on October 27, 1787. It was addressed to the people of New York but aimed at the delegates to the state's Ratifying Convention. In it, Hamilton described the choice that the states would have to make:

> "It seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force."

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The Bill of Rights

During the year-long debates over the ratification of the US Constitution, supporters of the Constitution called themselves Federalists. As a result, their opponents were known as Anti-Federalists. The Federalists were led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, who was also the primary architect of the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists were composed of diverse elements, including those who thought that a stronger government threatened the sovereignty and prestige of the states, localities, or individuals. They also believed that the new government threatened their personal liberties.

The Federalists defended the Constitution’s strengthened national government, with its greater congressional powers, more powerful executive, and independent judiciary. They argued that the new government supported the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, worried that the proposed constitution represented a betrayal of the principles of the American Revolution. They believed that the centralization of power would lead to the creation of a political aristocracy, to the detriment of state sovereignty and individual liberty. They also believed that the large federal republic that the Constitution would create could not work as intended.

The Federalists enlisted the contributions of Madison, John Jay, and others to produce 85 essays known as "The Federalist Papers", which explained and defended how the proposed new government would function. The essays were published in newspapers nationwide. The Anti-Federalists also authored pamphlets and published essays and cartoons arguing against ratification.

State sovereignty

During the year-long debates over the ratification of the Constitution, supporters of the Constitution called themselves Federalists. Their opponents, who were opposed to the ratification, were known as Anti-Federalists. The Federalists were led by Alexander Hamilton, who defended the Constitution and urged his allies in Virginia and New Hampshire to send word of the outcomes in those states to influence the New York debate. Hamilton also enlisted the help of Madison, the "father of the Constitution", and John Jay, the president of the Continental Congress, to write a series of essays defending the Constitution. These essays, published under the pseudonym Publius, were addressed to the people of New York but aimed at the delegates to the state's Ratifying Convention.

The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, were composed of diverse elements, including those who opposed the Constitution because they believed it threatened the sovereignty and prestige of the states, localities, or individuals. They also feared that the proposed constitution represented a betrayal of the principles of the American Revolution, in which Americans had fought against the consolidation of power in a distant, central government. They believed that the new government would favour the rich over those of "the middling sort" and that it would lead to the creation of a political aristocracy, to the detriment of state sovereignty and individual liberty.

The Anti-Federalists were particularly strong in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York, where they made ratification of the Constitution contingent on a Bill of Rights. The Federalists, however, contended that a conditional ratification would be void, so a compromise was reached in which the Constitution was ratified with the recommendation that it be amended with a bill of rights. This compromise, known as the )"Massachusetts Compromise", led to the inclusion of similar language in the ratification instruments of four of the next five states to ratify the Constitution, including New Hampshire, Virginia, and New York. As a result, shortly after the Constitution became operative in 1789, Congress sent a set of twelve amendments to the states, ten of which became known as the Bill of Rights.

The debates over ratification took place in homes, taverns, and on the printed page, with educated men authoring pamphlets and publishing essays and cartoons arguing either for or against ratification. The Federalist essays, now best known, helped sway delegates to ratification conventions in many states, and ultimately, the Constitution was ratified by all states on May 29, 1790, when Rhode Island finally approved the document.

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