According to German (2017), after the signing and approval of the constitution by the delegates of the convention of 1787, there was a need for ratification by the states. As stipulated in Article VII of the constitution, the rectification was to gain nine special states' approval, and those that do not take part would not be considered part of the union. The majority of people opposed the idea of a federal government with power over the states and were referred to as anti-federalists. The supporters of the creation of the federal government were referred to as federalists. This paper discusses the comparisons and contrasts of the philosophies of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists as established in the time of the constitutional convention via the ratification of the U.S. constitution
O ne of the major arguments in federalism's philosophy was creating unity among the states to be one large continental nation ( German, 2017). The majority of the group came from the wealthier class and plantation owners. The claims were that the constitution would improve the ‘article of confederation,' which was considered the first major attempt of unifying states in a national political arrangement. The two main leaders in federalism included Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, who were national Heroes by then.
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Zug (2020) analyzes that after the signing of the ratification on September 17, 1787, federalists and anti-federalists engaged in a fierce national debate questioning the constitution's merits. After the discussion, the anti-federalists discovered numerous problems in the constitution. The major argument was that the document gave the nation a completely new and untested form of government. The group believed that federalists had over-stated the prevailing challenges of the nation. The anti-federalist also trusted that the framers met as an elitist group under a veil of secrecy, which was a violation of some articles of confederation. The constitution was criticized for seemingly giving the president too many powers and lacking the bills of rights, among others.
References
German, Z. K. (2017). Spirit, Statesmanship, and the New Sciences of Politics: Montesquieu, the Federalists, and the Anti-Federalists (Doctoral dissertation, University of Notre Dame).
Zug, C. U. (2020). The Republican Theories of Rousseau and the American Anti ‐ Federalists. Australian Journal of Politics & History , 66 (2), 181-199.
