Federalist vs Anti Federalist

The crux of the ideological differences between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists centered around the nature of the relationship between state governments and the federal government. Federalists advocated for the creation of a strong central government to unify the states, while Anti-Federalists believed that states should retain their existing level of power and authority with a weak central government.

In terms of policy, Federalists asserted that federal laws and policies should take precedence over state laws. Additionally, they advocated for a strong executive branch with checks and balances on all three branches of government to ensure that no single entity, be it the executive, legislative, or judicial branch, could wield excessive power.

In contrast, Anti-Federalists maintained that states should hold more power than the central government to safeguard individual rights. They were apprehensive that a strong central government could become tyrannical, much like the monarchy of King George III and Parliament, and that the presidency would become too authoritarian over time.

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The roots of the federalism vs antifederalism debate can be traced back to well before the Revolutionary War, just as today's political parties have evolved over decades. As noted by the famous French political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville, in America, "the township was organized before the county, the county before the state, the state before the union."

The American colonies were settled separately by different groups of people, mostly by the British, beginning in the 17th century. By 1723, all 13 colonies had been established. Despite sharing a common ancestry, they did not have a unified identity as a country and instead identified more closely with their individual colonies. The one thing they did have in common was their frustration with England.

In the 1750s and 1760s, heavy taxation by the British caused tension between the American colonies and the British crown. By 1776, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, officially starting the war that eventually led to American independence. The new country signed a peace treaty with England in 1783.

However, when the colonies declared war on England, they still lacked a central government. In between making war decisions, the Second Continental Congress managed to pass the Articles of Confederation in 1781. A confederation is a government system where independent states or countries band together with a central government that usually provides coordination, is made up of representatives from each member state, and has less authority or power than the member states.

The Articles of Confederation were the first government structure of the United States of America. They gave Congress the authority to declare war, but not to tax the states. However, the young country faced significant struggles under the Articles of Confederation. Congress had no money, and states stopped sending funds as they focused on their own debts.

Soldiers who fought in the war fell into debt because Congress couldn't afford to pay them, leading some to rebel. Many representatives stopped showing up to Congress voting sessions, and states started fighting about borders, commerce, and westward expansion.

Due to the issues faced by the United States under the Articles of Confederation, the country was in an unstable state. As a result, in 1787, representatives gathered for a Constitutional Convention to establish a new framework for government. While the Convention ultimately succeeded in creating a compromise that was signed by many, it was not without heated debates between two main factions - the federalists and antifederalists - over several important issues.

The federalists scored some victories during the Constitutional Convention by adding clauses to the Constitution, but the antifederalists strongly opposed the omission of a Bill of Rights. They argued that the federal government would be free to infringe on citizens' rights without clear protections. The federalists, however, maintained that a Bill of Rights was unnecessary and could even be harmful by implying that unlisted rights were not protected.

Although the debate remained unresolved during the Convention, the antifederalists managed to persuade several states to ratify the Constitution on the condition that a Bill of Rights was added. Finally, in 1791, Congress approved the Bill of Rights, which included the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution.

Following the ratification of Congress's version of the Constitution in 1787, the document still required ratification from 9 out of the 13 states before it could become law, which eventually occurred in 1789. The period between the passage of the Constitution and state ratification provided an opportunity for both the federalists and antifederalists to make their case to the states. The key state that was still undecided was New York, and politicians began making arguments in New York newspapers to persuade them to vote for or against the Constitution.

Under the pen name "Brutus," someone wrote an essay published in New York that argued against the Constitution, and even though several others used different pen names to publish their antifederalist essays, the series of essays became known as the Brutus Papers. They supported the antifederalist viewpoint and advocated for New York to reject the Constitution. Specifically, they raised concerns over the Supremacy Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause, Congress's authority to tax, and the lack of a Bill of Rights (with particular attention to protections for the rights of the accused).

It is believed that the other authors (and their pen names) were George Clinton, Governor of New York (Cato), Patrick Henry, Samuel Bryan (Centinel), Richard Henry Lee (The Federal Farmer), and Robert Yates (Brutus).

In response to the Brutus Papers, the federalist camp published a collection of essays under the pen name "Publius," which became known as The Federalist Papers. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay are credited with writing the 85 Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers provided a comprehensive rebuttal to each point brought up in the Brutus Papers. Even after the Brutus Papers stopped being published, The Federalist Papers (mostly written by Alexander Hamilton at that point) continued in a flurry.

The essays argued that the country was the perfect size for a Republic, the system of checks and balances and branched government would prevent the government from growing too powerful, the country needed a strong executive to lead it (the president), and an independent Supreme Court would keep the power of Congress and the President in check.

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