Constitution

As 1787 continued, it was clear to most observers that the Articles of Confederation lacked the ability to govern the burgeoning America. After Shay’s Rebellion solidified this opinion in almost every colony, delegates took on the responsibility of revising the constitution. Observed in historical context, ratification of the Constitution as is, voting against ratification, or voting to ratify only upon amendment with a bill of rights, depends on several factors. Some of these factors include individual state of representation, opinions on strength of national government, economic status, maintaining army in peacetime, executive branch power, and inclusion of a bill of rights. Anti-Federalists did not want to ratify the Constitution based on these and other factors as Federalists perused a campaign to calm fears and push for ratification. The political atmosphere, need, and contextual arguments logically precluded ratification. Would then a scholar reviewing the historical perspective of ratification of the Constitution conclude the inevitability of ratification? Without the Bill of Rights, the compromise necessary for ratification became more difficult. Taken as a whole, even without the Bill of Rights, the Federalists organized actions precluded eventual success.
Other factors led to the ratification of the Constitution and aided in the Federalist success. Least of which was the organization, legal scholarship, and ability to argue against the Anti-Federalist. Federalists pinpointed focus on areas of most contention and used legal tactics to ensure passage even in hard fought states. Starting with calling themselves, “Federalists” instead of “nationalists” solidified the opposition as anti and thus negative. In reality, the sel...

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...Bill of Rights as a compromise, ratification became possible. Proposing the need for a Bill of Rights also became a point of contention for some Anti-Federalists. They pointed out that if there was a need for a Bill of Rights, the Constitution itself was not perfect. Although a solid argument, it was not enough to prevent ratification.
The historical factors leading up to the Continental Convention left little room for no change. In order for independence to survive, doing nothing created more problems than doing something. This, above all, maintained the idea of change in the average citizen. Federalist or Anti-Federalist, the argument taken as a whole from both sides did not mean easy ratification. Federalists created an atmosphere where any valid argument found a well thought out counter argument. The Bill of Rights gathered all momentum towards ratification.