The Bill of Rights During the Revolutionary War the rebelling colonies needed to find a way to govern the new nation and created the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation created a weak federal government with most of the power given to the states. The weak federal government was unable to address a number of primarily economic and diplomatic problems facing the nation. A Federalist movement started in order to create a stronger federal government that could better handle these problems. In 1787 delegates were called into Philadelphia to write a constitution with more power granted to the federal government. There was a small but significant opposition to the idea of a federal constitution. Those who were opposed to a strong federal government were called Antifederalists. Antifederalists were worried that the powers granted to the federal government under the constitution would be abused and citizens could be treated as they were under British rule. In 1789 Antifederalists insisted “that the state constitutions, and citizens needed explicit protection from possible excesses by the federal government” (Divine, Breen, Williams, Gross, Brands 150). Antifederalists thought the Constitution put too much power in the hands of the federal government. In almost every state convention, the Antifederalist “pointed out the need for greater protection of individual liberties, rights that people presumably had possessed in a state of nature… A bill of rights, therefore, ought to set forth the purposes for which the compact is made, and serves to secure the minority against the usurpation and tyranny of the majority” (152). The Bill of Rights was intended to protect rights of citizens from federal government. The first ten... ... middle of paper ... ...e free and equal for all. Works Cited Divine, Robert A., T.H. Breen, R. Hal Williams, Ariela J. Gross, H.W. Brands, America: Past and Present, Vol. 1, 10th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2012. Print “About the First Amendment,” 2014. First Amendment Center. The First Amendment Center Publication. http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about-the-first-amendment. Web. 23 Mar 2014. “House passes the 13th Amendment.” 2014. The History Channel website. 23 Mar 2014. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/house-passes-the-13th-amendment. Web. 23 Mar 2014. “Sons and Daughters of Liberty.” U.S. History Online Textbook. 2014. http://www.ushistory.org/ us/10b.asp. Web. 25 Mar 2014. “Women Serving in the 113th Congress 2013-15.” 2014. Center for American Women and Politics. http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/levels_of_office/Congress-Current.php. Web. 25 Mar 2014.
The Anti-Federalist Party, led by Patrick Henry, objected to the constitution. They objected to it for a few basic reasons. Mostly the Anti-Federalists thought that the Constitution created too strong a central government. They felt that the Constitution did not create a Federal government, but a single national government. They were afraid that the power of the states would be lost and that the people would lose their individual rights because a few individuals would take over. They proposed a “Bill of Rights”, to make sure the citizens were protected by the law. They believed that no Bill of Rights would be equal to no check on our government for the people.
Both groups came to agreement and agreed that there needed to be a stronger authority requiring an independent salary to function. They both also agreed that they needed to raise safeguards against the tyranny. The anti-Federalists would not agree to the new Constitution without the “Bill of Rights.” The Federalists ended up including the Bill of Rights into the Constitution. The Bill of Rights protects the freedoms of people. It reassured the anti-Federalists the government could not abuse their power by taking it out on the people. The Federalists included the Bill of Rights to get the anti-Federalists votes and support in the Constitution to actually get it
There was a short time where all was calm right after the civil war. king charles the second and his father were both dead so Charles brother took over. this is king James the secondf and he was a Catholic sao he appointed many high positions in the government. Most of his sibjects were protestant and did not like the idea of Catholicism being the religion theyd have to abide by. like his father and brother king james the second ignored the peoples wishes and ruled without Parliament and relied on royal power. an English Protestant leader wanted to take the power away from james and give it to his daughter Mary and Her husband William from the Netherlands. William saled out to the south of england with his troops but sent them away soon after they landed
Eibling, Harold H., et al., eds. History of Our United States. 2nd edition. River Forest, Ill: Laidlaw Brothers, 1968.
Anti –federalist believed that with out the bill of rights, the national government would became a to strong it would threating the americans peoples rights and libertys. Due to prior american revolution, ant-federalist did not forget what they fought for an believed that with a stronger national government, the president could become kind if he wanted. During this time people still feared a strong central government, due to british occupany of the states. Concidently the of people who wanted the bill of rights and were anti-federalist were famers and the working class, as to the fedarlist were extremely rich and powerful people Thomas Jeferson who was a active anti-federalist once wrote to james Madison A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular; and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences. (Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787. ME 6:388, Papers
Danzer, Gerald, J. Jorge Klor de Alva, Larry Krieger, Louis Wilson, and Nancy Woloch. The Americans. 1. 1. McDougal Little, 2005. 1121. Print.
During the late 18th century the Antifederalists argued against the constitution on the grounds that it did not contain a bill of rights. They believed that without a list of personal freedoms, the new national government might abuse its powers and that the states would be immersed in an all too dominant and influential national government. The Antifederalists worried that the limits on direct voting and the long terms of the president and senators, supplied by the constitution, would create a population of elites and aristocrats, which in turn would eventually take away power from the people. They also feared that the president might become another monarch. In other words, the Antifederalists ultimately felt that the new Constitution was undemocratic.
Divine, Robert A. America past and Present. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Longman, 2013. 245. Print.
While the Federalists believe in a strong, central government, the Anti-Federalists believe in the shared power of state and national governments to maintain the rights of all Americans .The Anti-Federalist favored a confederated government were the state and national governments could share power ,protect citizen’s freedom ,and independence. The Anti-Federalists found many problems in the Constitution. Many were concerned the central government take was all individual rights. Anti-Federalist primarily consisted of farmers and tradesmen and was less likely to be a part of the wealthy elite than were members of their rival the Federalist. Many Anti-federalists were local politicians who feared losing power should the Constitution be ratified and argued that senators that served for too long and represented excessively large territories would cause senators to forget what their responsibilities were for that state. They argued that the Constitution would give the country an entirely new and unknown form of government and saw no reason in throwing out the current government. Instead, they believed that the Federalists had over-stated the current problems of the country and wanted improved characterization of power allowable to the states. They also maintained that the Framers of the Constitution had met as a discriminatory group under an order of secrecy and had violated the stipulations of the Articles of Confederation in the hopes for the for ratification of the Constitution. The Anti-Federalist were sure that the Constitution would take away the rights of the American citizens and fought hard to stop the ratification on the
A primary document, it was a message for the Federalists and to the American public in general. Although they did not fully support the Articles of Confederation, they did not want a new Constitution to be written. These people were concerned about how little freedom they would have if the federal government got more power. Because of this, they are against the beliefs of the Federalists. The Anti-Federalists are also concerned about how the national government could abuse its power if given a higher authoritative role in the revised Constitution. In order to show the concern, the authors write, “the legislative power is competent to lay taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; there is no limitation to this power..." The Anti-Federalists were afraid that allowing the national government to have so much power would be like living under Britain 's authority all over again. This would render the American Revolution pointless, they believed. They supported the state governments in having authority to tax, govern, and to have independence from the central government in doing so. They believe that if the central government starts taxing the people, the state governments would not be able to raise money
The Federalist wanted all thirteen states to be united as one, and in doing they they wanted each state to have two Senators representing them in congress for everyone to have an equal say. The Antifederalist Worried that the states would lose their individual power to have local control and this is why they strongly opposed the formation of the Senate and the Constitution. Because of the Antifederalist view on liberal state ruling, they had a dispute in fighting for states rights in the 1800s. The Bill of Rights was crucial to the Antifederalist because it gave the states some right back to govern themselves and run a little on there own laws. However,
... An American History of the World. 4th ed. of the book. W.W. Norton, 2012, 671. 2.)
George Browm Tindall, David Emory Shi. American History: 5th Brief edition, W. W. Norton & Company; November 1999
3. Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, eds., America Past and Present Volume II: since 1865 sixth edition (New York: Longman 2002).
Breen, T.H., H.W. Brands, et al. America: Past and Present. Upper Saddle River NJ: Pearson, Print.