The Anti-Federalists

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The Founding Fathers were the men recognized for drafting the United States Constitution and are often viewed as an unselfish group of men who shared a singular belief about how government should work. The truth about the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention and the differing political factions is not as unified and glamorous as this storybook image of history would have us to believe. Their finished product did result in a lasting framework that defined our government‘s structure as well as establishing liberty as a cornerstone to our new society. The magnificent result should not gloss over the messy, sausage-making process that this massive overhaul of government actually was. This brief paper will discuss why the Anti-Federalists’ contribution to the creation of the Constitution cannot or should not be discounted. In Herbert J. Storing’s book, What the Anti-Federalists Were For, he methodically lays out the Anti-Federalists’ positions and contributions to the constitutional compromise and why he believes that they too should be considered Founding Fathers as well. The Anti-Federalists where seen as those primarily opposed to creating a new constitution and stood against this proposition on nearly every point of the debate. The Anti-Federalists gained their name because they were antagonists to the Federalists who supported the adoption of a new constitution and they had no formal name. The Anti-Federalist were also comprised of prominent men who ferociously supported the ideals of the Revolution and protecting liberty even though the Federalists would often accuse them of abandoning these principles. The debates at the Philadelphia Convention were rooted in principles deeply held by both groups. ... ... middle of paper ... ...only a small republic could produce the voluntary obedience of the people to submit to the authority of the new government and its laws. The Federalist believed a republic, in the truest sense, could not exist in a post commercial world. Anti-Federalists did see the need for a union between the states to provide a defense against foreign enemies, promote, and protect commerce, and maintain order between the states. They believed in granting powers to a national government cautiously and with disclaimers. Their rivals in the constitutional debates falsely appointed the Anti-Federalists as their core principles turned out to be more “federal” than the Federalists whom they opposed. A more accurate name for the Anti-Federalists, since they never offered one for themselves, may have been the Pro-Federalists in reverence to their conservative beliefs.

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