Federalists and Anti-Federalists

It was clear to the colonists and the framers that they did not want a repeat of the oppression they felt under the British government. The product of this thought process were the Articles of Confederation. As time went on the most of the Framers came to the consensus that the Articles were not sufficient nor quite as powerful as they needed to be. The Constitutional Committee was created, and out of that came the Constitution of the United States. People in favor of this Constitution were known as Federalists and the people against it were referred to as Anti-Federalists. These two parties were widely different as to what they wanted their government for their new country to be.

"The Articles are too weak. Under the Articles of Confederation nothing will be accomplished and a stronger form of government is needed if the United States is to become a strong country." If Someone were to have these thoughts as a citizen of the United States during this time period, then they were considered a Federalist. They also believed that the newly written Constitution was the right form of government for what needed to be accomplished. They supported having three branches of government and a President that they would be electing every four years. The Constitution was supported by the Federalists but unsupported by the opposing group, the Anti-Federalists.

" A little revision might be needed but all in all the Articles are a good plan. A stronger form of government will achieve only in suppressing the rights of the common people." Anti-Federalists would be thinking and saying these kinds of things. They supported stronger state governments and less taxation power, both of which they felt would be harmed under the Constitution. The Constitution was not suitable for them and in their opinion would lead to the oppression of the American people. No one was certain how the situation would turn out to be back then, but as we analyze these arguments today we understand how they apply to us and to what things they relate to in modern politics.

As everyone well knows, the constitution was accepted and ratified into the government of the United States. The Federalist opinion was the deciding factor as to what our government would turn out to be, and somewhat shortly after the Democratic and Republican parties would come into fruition. Democrats and Republicans alike can be compared to the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The idea of a weaker National Government if often times shared by Republicans, and a stronger government is often times supported by Democrats. Keep in mind not in as big differences such as the Articles and the Constitution, but still in noticeable levels.

The arguments between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists we hard fought on both sides, but ultimately the Federalists were the deciding party. With the basic idea that a stronger national government was better on the side of the Federalists,