Farmers And The Us Constitution: Friends Or Foes?

The US Constitution was drafted by a committee led by John Dickinson, who was known as the penman of the Revolution. The Constitution was intended to preserve individual liberty and fragment political power among the thirteen states. However, when it came to national politics, small farmers, landowners, shopkeepers, and laborers, known as Anti-Federalists, favored strong state governments, a weak central government, and the direct election of government officials. They also feared the excessive power of the national government and the potential for Congress to seize too much power. These concerns were expressed in a series of Anti-Federalist Papers, with the most cohesive of these documents written under the pen name of Brutus. Nonetheless, there were also farmers who supported the Constitution, such as Jonathan Smith, a Massachusetts farmer who viewed the new Constitution as a viable and pragmatic remedy to Shays' Rebellion, which had led to anarchy and tyranny.

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Farmers' rebellions, such as Shays' Rebellion, highlighted the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Farmers, including small farmers and landowners, were among those who opposed the US Constitution, and they became known as Anti-Federalists. They favored strong state governments, a weak central government, the direct election of government officials, short term limits for officeholders, accountability by officeholders to popular majorities, and the strengthening of individual liberties.

However, there were farmers who supported the new Constitution, viewing it as a viable and pragmatic remedy to the anarchy caused by rebellions such as Shays' Rebellion. Shays' Rebellion, led by Daniel Shays, was a consequence of the economic depression that followed the Revolutionary War. The Townshend Acts severely taxed the colonists, and farmers in western Massachusetts were unable to pay the tax, leading to the loss of their farmland. The Massachusetts government, under the Articles of Confederation, faced tariffs from other states, causing farmers to sink into drastic debt. The inability of the federal government to address this economic crisis highlighted the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Shays' Rebellion also exposed the lack of a central government and the weakness of the existing government. The national government lacked the power to tax, had no chief executive, no national courts, and could not regulate interstate and foreign commerce. As a result, the government couldn't raise funds through taxation to form a military or draft to stop the rebellion, and they had to rely on a private army to intervene. This rebellion brought on a state of anarchy, with people taking up arms and turning against each other and the government.

The weaknesses exposed by Shays' Rebellion influenced many to support revising the Articles of Confederation to strengthen the national government. The Massachusetts government, recognizing the necessity of a strong central government, invited other states to a convention to revise the Articles. Thus, farmers' rebellions, exemplified by Shays' Rebellion, played a pivotal role in highlighting the inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation and catalyzing the movement toward constitutional reform.

The US Constitution consolidated political power at the federal level, which some farmers opposed

The US Constitution, which was completed and signed by 39 delegates on September 17, 1787, consolidated political power at the federal level. This was in contrast to the Articles of Confederation, which had given the states more power. The Constitution was sent to the states for ratification, with Federalists supporting it and Anti-Federalists opposing it.

The Anti-Federalists included small farmers and landowners, shopkeepers, and laborers. They favored strong state governments, a weak central government, the direct election of government officials, short term limits for officeholders, accountability by officeholders to popular majorities, and the strengthening of individual liberties. They were concerned about the potential for excessive power of the national government and feared that Congress might seize too many powers.

Some farmers, particularly in Massachusetts, supported the new Constitution, viewing it as a viable and pragmatic remedy to the anarchy and tyranny that had resulted from Shays' Rebellion. They saw the Rebellion as a black cloud and believed that the Constitution could provide a much-needed good government.

However, other farmers, including Patrick Henry, an outspoken Anti-Federalist, opposed the Constitution. They argued that it would consolidate power at the federal level, taking power away from the states. This was a betrayal of what they believed was the true spirit of the American Revolution, which they felt should preserve individual liberty by fragmenting political power among the states.

Overall, farmers' opinions on the US Constitution were divided. While some welcomed the stronger federal government, others feared the loss of state power and the potential for tyranny.

Farmers were divided between the Federalist Party and the Anti-Federalist Party

The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, included small farmers and landowners, shopkeepers, and laborers. They favored strong state governments, a weak central government, the direct election of government officials, short term limits for officeholders, accountability by officeholders to popular majorities, and the strengthening of individual liberties. They were also pro-French in terms of foreign affairs. They opposed ratification of the Constitution, which they saw as consolidating power at the federal level, and published a series of articles and delivered numerous speeches against it. These writings and speeches have come to be known as The Anti-Federalist Papers.

Some farmers, like Jonathan Smith, supported the new Constitution, seeing it as a viable and pragmatic remedy to the anarchy caused by Shays' Rebellion. Smith argued that the time for debate had passed, and that the time had come to "gather fruit when it is ripe." He also pointed out that the Constitution included checks and balances of power, which he approved of. Other Massachusetts farmers, however, saw Shays' Rebellion as a "black cloud" that could lead to anarchy, but did not support the new Constitution.

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Anti-Federalist farmers favoured strong state governments and a weak central government

The Anti-Federalists included small farmers and landowners, shopkeepers, and labourers. In national politics, they favoured strong state governments, a weak central government, the direct election of government officials, short term limits for officeholders, accountability by officeholders to popular majorities, and the strengthening of individual liberties. They feared that the new Constitution gave the national government too much power at the expense of the states. They also feared that Congress might seize too many powers under the necessary and proper clause and other open-ended provisions.

Anti-Federalists worked mainly as farmers and wanted a weaker central government that would mainly assist the state governments by providing basic functions like defence, international diplomacy, and setting foreign policy. They believed that lawsuits involving state laws should be heard by the courts of the states involved, rather than the U.S. Supreme Court. They also believed that the new Constitution created a centralised rather than federal government, in which two levels of government would exercise a range of control over the same geographic area.

Many Anti-Federalists, including farmers, saw Shays' Rebellion as a "black cloud" with the potential to lead to anarchy, and they viewed the new Constitution as a viable and pragmatic remedy. They believed that the new Constitution would provide a much-needed "fence" to protect them from the "wild beasts" of tyranny and anarchy. They also believed that the new Constitution would provide a balance of power, which they had lacked under the Articles of Confederation.

However, some farmers, like Jonathan Smith, were Anti-Federalists. Smith, a Massachusetts farmer, spoke out against the new Constitution at the Massachusetts ratification convention, arguing that the people should not be in a hurry to adopt it. He urged his "brother plough-joggers" to consider the potential dangers of a powerful national government, which could turn into a "musket of death".

Some farmers supported the US Constitution as a pragmatic remedy to anarchy

The US Constitution was drafted by a committee led by John Dickinson, who became known as "the penman of the Revolution". The Articles of Confederation, which preceded the US Constitution, gave individual states more power. However, Shays' Rebellion, which was the biggest of the farmers' rebellions, exposed the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. It also highlighted the need for a stronger central government, which the US Constitution provided.

Another farmer from Massachusetts, who was a member of the convention that formed the state constitution, also supported the new US Constitution. He believed that the new Constitution provided a good balance of power. He also trusted that those in power would not abuse their positions and that having honest men in Congress would benefit the farmers.

However, it is important to note that not all farmers supported the US Constitution. Anti-Federalists, which included small farmers, landowners, shopkeepers, and laborers, opposed the ratification of the Constitution. They favored strong state governments, weak central governments, direct elections of government officials, short term limits, accountability to popular majorities, and the strengthening of individual liberties. They also published a series of articles and speeches, known as The Anti-Federalist Papers, to express their opposition to the Constitution.

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