Federalist vs Anti Federalist

Federalist vs Anti Federalist Differences

For their part, federalists believed that the federal government's policies and laws should take precedence over state laws. They also thought the country needed a strong executive in the form of a president along with checks and balances on each of the branches to make sure no entity (the executive, legislative, or judcicial branch) had too much power.

On the other hand, antifederalists believed that states needed to have more power than the central government in order to preserve rights. They feared that a strong central government would become powerful and abusive, like King George III and Parliament had. They also feared that the presidency would become monarichal over time.

Federalist vs Anti Federalist Views

Just as today's political parties evolved out of decades of history, the roots of the debate between federalism and antifederalism went back much farther than the Revolutionary War.

American Colonies

The famous French political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville once said: “[i]n America . . . it may be said that the township was organized before the county, the county before the state, the state before the union.”

Indeed, the American colonies were settled at separate times by separate groups of people, mostly by the British. The first colonies were settled in the 17th century. By 1723, all 13 colonies had been founded. Because of this history, even though most of their ancestors had come from England, they didn't have a common identity as a country, and instead identified more with their respective colonies. The main thing they had in common was their frustrations with England.

American Revolution

Tensions between the American colonies and the British crown grew in the 1750s and 1760s due to heavy taxation by the British. By 1776, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence and the war officially started. Eventually, the new country won independence and signed a peace treaty with England in 1783.

Articles of Confederation

When the colonies declared war on England, they still did not have a central government. In between making war decisions, the Second Continental Congress managed to pass the Articles of Confederation in 1781.

The Articles of Confederation were the first government structure. The Articles named the country the United States of America and gave Congress the authority to do things like declare war, but not to tax the states.

Even though the United States managed to win the Revolutionary War, the young country faced significant struggles under the Articles of Confederation. Congress had no money and states stopped sending it in 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 bothering to show up to Congress voting sessions and states started fighting about borders, commerce, and westward expansion.

Figure 1: During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress started printing its own money (pictured above). Because they didn't have a national bank and the money wasn't tied to anything, the bank notes were viewed as virtually worthless. Source: University of Notre Dame, Wikimedia Commons,

Federalist vs Anti Federalist Debate

The United States was on shaky ground because of the problems in the Articles of Confederation. In 1787, the representatives came together for a Constitutional Convention to develop a new government framework. The Convention succeeded in reaching a compromise that people were willing to sign. However, it came with some intense debates between the federalists and antifederalists over a few key issues.

Figure 2: A political cartoon called "The Looking Glass: A House Divide Itself Cannot Stand" from 1787 depicting the "Federals" and "Antifederals" pulling a wagon in two opposite directions. Source: Library of Congress

Supremacy Clause

The Supremacy Clause in the Constitution reads:

This clause has been interpreted to mean that if there are any conflicts between the state and federal law, then the federal law will take precedence.

This raised alarm bells for antifederalists. They felt that giving the federal government the Constitutional authority to be the supreme law of the land would threaten states' rights and create a tyrannical federal government. In the end, the federalists won, and the Supremacy Clause remained in the Constitution.

Commerce Clause

The Commerce Clause says that:

This clause came directly out of the mess created by the Articles of Confederation. Before the Constitution, Congress didn't have the authority to regulate interstate commerce, which led to huge problems between the states over trade disputes.

While everyone agreed that something had to be done, antifederalists feared that the clause left it too open to interpretation. For example, who gets to decide what "commerce" means? Does it include manufacturing or just the exchange of goods?

In the end, the federalists won out and the Commerce Clause was included in the Constitution.

Necessary and Proper Clause

Another clause that gave antifederalists pause was the "Necessary and Proper Clause." The clause says that Congress has the power to:

Most of Article 1 in the Constitution lists out specific powers (called Enumerated or Delineated Powers. See Enumerated and Implied Powers). For example, it gives Congress the power to create a national currency, provide common defense, and declare war.

The federalists believed that over time, the needs of the country might change, and some of the provisions they drafted might not cover all of the duties that Congress would need to fulfill. So, they thought the "Necessary and Proper Clause" was a good compromise: it would allow Congress to pass laws needed to fulfill its other duties (called Implied Powers) while still tying its authority to the Constitution. While the antifederalists expressed concern that this clause could give the federal government too much power, the clause still stayed in the Constitution.

Bill of Rights

The federalists had a few wins with clauses in the Constitution, but the antifederalists put their foot down when it came to including a Bill of Rights. The antifederalists said that without a Bill of Rights, the federal government could easily trample on citizens' rights. The federalists said that a Bill of Rights wasn't necessary and that listing out rights could actually be bad for individual freedom because it could imply that any rights not specifically listed weren't protected by the Constitution.

While they didn't come to a conclusion during the Constitutional Convention, the antifederalists succeeded in convincing several states to ratify the Constitution only if a Bill of Rights was added. In 1791, Congress passed the Bill of Rights, which included the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution.

Figure 3: The Bill of Rights (with the text depicted in the plaque above) was passed in 1791, two years after the passage of the Constitution. Source: David Jones, Wikimedia Commons

Federalist vs Anti Federalist Ideas

After Congress passed its version of the Constitution in 1787, the document still had to be ratified by 9 of the 13 states before it could become law (which it eventually did, in 1789).

The time in between Congress's passage and state ratification provided the opportunity for both the federalists and antifederalists to make their case to the states. One key state that was still up in the air was New York. Politicians began making arguments in New York newspapers (which were then spread throughout the country) to persuade them to vote for or against the Constitution.

Brutus Papers

Someone under the pen name of "Brutus" wrote an essay published in New York arguing against the Constitution. Even though several others used different pen names to publish their antifederalist essays, the series of essays became known as Brutus Papers. They supported the antifederalist viewpoint and pushed for New York to reject the Constitution. They specifically called out the 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).

Federalist Papers

When the federalist camp saw the Brutus papers published in the paper, they knew they had to respond or risk losing New York's support for the Constitution. Their collection of published essays became known as The Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers were written under the pen name "Publius." 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 (at that point, mostly written by Alexander Hamilton) 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 need a strong executive to lead it (the president), and an independent Supreme Court would keep the power of Congress and the President in check.

Figure 4: The Federalist Papers were published as a book and disseminated throughout the country. Source: Americas Library, Wikimedia Commons, CC-PD-Mark