COMMENTS

  1. Anti-Federalist Papers

    Anti-Federalist Papers is the collective name given to the works written by the Founding Fathers who were opposed to, or concerned with, the merits of the United States Constitution of 1787. Starting on 25 September 1787 (eight days after the final draft of the US Constitution) and running through the early 1790s, these Anti-Federalists published a series of essays arguing against the ...

  2. The Anti-Federalists and their important role during the Ratification

    The Anti-Federalist Papers were essays and speeches by opponents of the Constitution, who argued that it gave too much power to the federal government and lacked a Bill of Rights. They influenced the ratification of the Constitution and the adoption of the Bill of Rights, which protects the rights and liberties of Americans.

  3. Anti-Federalists

    Patrick Henry was an outspoken anti-Federalist. The Anti-Federalists included small farmers and landowners, shopkeepers, and laborers. When it came to national politics, 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 ...

  4. The Anti-Federalist Papers

    Learn about the 85 articles written in opposition to the ratification of the 1787 United States Constitution, published under various pseudonyms. Find out the authors, dates, and sources of the Anti-Federalist Papers and their arguments against the new Constitution.

  5. Essay No. 1 (1787)

    Brutus, a pseudonym for Robert Yates, was a leading Anti-Federalist who opposed the U.S. Constitution in 1787. He argued that a free republic could not succeed in a large nation like America, and that the people should have more control over their local governments.

  6. Anti-Federalists

    Anti-Federalists, in early U.S. history, a loose political coalition of popular politicians, such as Patrick Henry, who unsuccessfully opposed the strong central government envisioned in the U.S. Constitution of 1787 and whose agitations led to the addition of a Bill of Rights.The first in the long line of states' rights advocates, they feared the authority of a single national government ...

  7. 5.3 Info Brief: The Anti-Federalists

    In addition, Anti-Federalist support was stronger: Out West rather than in the East; In rural areas rather than in the cities; In large states rather than in small states; While many Americans know about the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalists included their own set of powerful authors—every bit as politically potent and theoretically ...

  8. PDF The US Constitution: Federalists v. Anti-Federalists

    In this unit, students will closely read selections from both the Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers. They will use critical-analysis questions to understand the arguments presented in the texts and then demonstrate their understanding by developing and presenting a scripted debate based on those arguments. UNIT OBJECTIVES

  9. PDF The Anti-Federalist Papers

    The Anti-Federalist Papers During the period from the drafting and proposal of the federal Constitution in September, 1787, to its ratification in 1789 there was an intense debate on ratification. The principal arguments in favor of it were stated in the series written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay called the Federalist

  10. Centinel I

    According to Centinel, this means that the Constitution does not rely on the virtue of the people; it simply balances the powers of those governing them. "A republican, or free government, can only exist where the body of the people are virtuous, and where property is pretty equally divided," Centinel maintains.

  11. Who Were the Anti-Federalists?

    Unlike, for example, Federalist James Madison's Federalist No. 10, defending the Constitution's republican form of government, few of the essays of the Anti-Federalists papers are taught today in college curricula or cited in court rulings. However, the influence of the Anti-Federalists remains in the form of the United States Bill of Rights.

  12. Anti-Federalism

    Anti-Federalism was a late-18th-century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution.The previous constitution, called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, gave state governments more authority. Led by Patrick Henry of Virginia, Anti-Federalists worried, among other things ...

  13. Introduction to the Antifederalists

    The Timeline encourages the reader to see the following interplay: the pro-constitutional Caesar essays were responded to by the Antifederalist Brutus and Cato essays and these in turn were responded to with the launching of the essays by Publius that became The Federalist Papers in 1788. And this sort of interplay continues throughout the ...

  14. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

    The Anti-Federalist Papers, written under pseudonyms such as Brutus and Federal Farmer, argued for a more decentralized federal structure. Federalists sought a balance where the federal government had sufficient power to govern effectively, but not so much that it would negate the states' significance. Madison articulated that an extended ...

  15. The United States Constitution: Federalists v. Anti-Federalists

    Although the Anti-Federalists' essays were written anonymously under various pen names, most famously "Brutus," historians generally agree that among the authors of the Anti-Federalist essays were Robert Yates, Samuel Bryan, George Clinton, and Richard Henry Lee. Materials Anti-Federalist Papers #1, #9, #46, and #84 (excerpts).

  16. Anti-Federalist Papers: Brutus No.1

    Among the most important of the Anti-Federalist writings are the essays of Brutus. Although it has not been definitively established, these essays are generally attributed to Robert Yates. The Brutus essays provide the most direct and compelling rebuttal of the Federalist argument. This lesson provides a summation of arguments made in Brutus ...

  17. Anti-Federalists and Brutus No. 1 (video)

    Federalist No. 10 was an essay supporting a larger, central government. Brutus No. 1 is the exact opposite - it is anti-federialist, meaning in support of smaller, state government. The papers are not alike because they have totally opposite viewpoints on the issue.

  18. PDF Brutus No 1 (Antifederalist)

    Over the course of six months, Brutus would publish sixteen essays that presented counter-arguments to The Federalist Papers. The first of these essays, Brutus No. 1, seized the initiative, being published about two weeks before Alexander Hamilton published Federalist No. 1 to defend the proposed Constitution under the pseudonym, Publius.

  19. Brutus No. 1 full text (article)

    I wonder if this or other anti-federalist papers have been used in arguments against executive orders and inducements using federal funding to influence state law and policy (e.g., highway and education funding). ... this was written in 1787 by an anti-federalist under the pen-name of brutus, but was rumored to be written by robert yates ...

  20. Federalists and Anti-Federalists, Summary, Facts, Significance

    Prominent Anti-Federalists were Patrick Henry, Melancton Smith, Robert Yates, George Clinton, Samuel Bryan, and Richard Henry Lee. The Anti-Federalists delivered speeches and wrote pamphlets that explained their positions on the Constitution. The pamphlets are collectively known as the "Anti-Federalist Papers." The Anti-Federalists formed ...

  21. Brutus I

    Introduction. "Brutus," a New York Antifederalist, or opponent of the proposed Constitution (generally assumed to have been Robert Yates, a New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention), anticipated by two weeks the opening paragraph of Federalist No. 1 (1787), also addressed to the people of New York. As would "Publius ...

  22. Term of the President

    Jump to essay-15 See, e.g., Th e Anti-Federalist Papers, No. 67 (Cato/George Clinton), reprinted in Th e Complete Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers 709 (2014) (It is remarked by Montesquieu, in treating of republics, th at in all magistracies, th e greatness of th e power must be compensated by th e brevity of th e duration, and th at a ...

  23. Anti-Federalist vs Federalist

    Anti-Federalist vs. Federalist Debate. The American Revolution was a costly war and left the colonies in an economic depression.The debt and remaining tensions—perhaps best summarized by a conflict in Massachusetts known as Shays' Rebellion—led some founding political members in the U.S. to desire for more concentrated federal power. The thought was that this concentrated power would allow ...

  24. Anti-Federalists Essay

    The Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers were created in response to the United States Constitution. In 1787, the Second Continental Congress called for a federal convention. This meeting in Philadelphia came to create the U.S Constitution. It originally was held to revise the Articles of Confederation, but due to the mindsets of many ...

  25. Federalist Papers: Primary Documents in American History

    The Federalist, commonly referred to as the Federalist Papers, is a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788.The essays were published anonymously, under the pen name "Publius," in various New York state newspapers of the time. The Federalist Papers were written and published to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed ...

  26. Pioneering Critics: Exploring the Legacy of Famous Anti-Federalists

    This essay about the influential Anti-Federalist figures of America's founding era highlights their pivotal role in shaping the discourse on governmental structure and individual rights. It explores the lives and ideas of prominent Anti-Federalists such as Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Samuel Adams, emphasizing their opposition to ...

  27. The Untold Story of the Network That Took Down Roe v. Wade

    Across the country, anti-abortion activists had worked to help pass laws in nearly a third of states that banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, defying the standard set by Roe for legal ...

  28. SECNAV Del Toro Names Future Guided Missile ...

    The Constellation-class will have multi-mission capability to conduct air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, electronic warfare, and information operations. More information on ...