American History: Differences Between Federalists and Anti-Federalists

This essay delves into the fundamental differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the formative years of the United States. The essay begins by outlining the historical context, highlighting the role of lawyers in drafting the Constitution and their reliance on the British Constitution. It then explores the contrasting ideologies of the Federalists, who advocated for a strong central government, and the Anti-Federalists, who favored states' rights and feared centralized power. The essay examines key figures such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and analyzes the debates surrounding the Articles of Confederation and the Bill of Rights. The author ultimately supports the Federalist perspective, emphasizing the importance of a unified national government. The conclusion summarizes the core conflict as a debate over the structure of the American government.

Running head: AMERICAN HISTORY
American History
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Author Note

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Introduction
The aim of the following paper is to discuss upon the main differences between the
supporters of the Constitution and the critics of the critics of the constitution. The supporters of
the constitution are called the Federalists in the United States and the critics are called the non-
Federalists.
Differences between Federalists and anti-Federalists
The people who founded the Constitution of the United States were mostly the lawyers.
They had to write down the constitution from a scratch. This is why they had to rely highly on
the constitution of United Kingdom as this was known to most of the founders.. The familiarity
with the British Constitution gave them the advantage to write the constitution of the country.
However, the contradictions arose within this context because some people were in favor
and some of them were against some bills of the constitution. The founders of the constitution
always wanted to form a sort of government where the voters will cast their votes to elect their
representatives. This would be called a Republican Government. The plan was to set up the
government in a manner where the central or national government would have the powers over
the states. This is why the Articles of Confederation in 1781 had been considered as weak since
it gave too much power on the states. However, the non-Federalists had opposed the idea of
placing too much power to national governments.
On the other hand, the Federalists always wanted to set up a proper Federal government
where all the states in the country would be united as a nation. Their purpose was to consolidate
the national government so it could come to a unified decision where it needed the most. The
Federalists who drew up the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776 were mostly educated

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men with much wealth. On the contrary, the claim of the anti-Federalists or non-Federalists was
to prepare the constitution in a manner that the individual states will have the power to decide its
own laws and take actions without the interference of the national governments.
As per their thinking process, they believed that the President and Congress had gained
too much power. These differences went on since the leader of the Federalists was Alexander
Hamilton and the leader of anti-Federalists was Thomas Jefferson. Mainly the people from
Tennessee were called the anti-Federalists since the national government did not protect them
from the attacks of the Indians and they had to depend on the support from their neighbors.
These are the contexts why the differences between the Federalists and anti-Federalists. In my
opinion, the view of the Federalists should be supported since the importance of the national
government is immense. If the states gained more power they would engage in clashes in the
future. However, the national government would be able to control the states and stand as a
unified power in front of their enemy forces.
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said that the differences between the Federalists and the
anti-Federalists were mainly based on the foundation of the American Constitution and the
establishment of the centralized central government. Thus the conflicts went on in the future as
well. These conflicts are not at all for the good of the common people of the country.

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