Democracy. The Founders of the constitution feared a strong central government for good reason as we can see today. The bill of rights was required in order to enact the constitution as law of the land.
Our constitution was created by conservatives and by following that doctrine we became the greatest nation on earth. The greed of men for power in all our branches of government have undermined that document almost since it's inception. No one party is more to blame than another for the evil therein
but the fools that buy into the rhetoric perpetrate the destruction and none exemplify those fools more than today's liberals.
The Anti-Federalists feared that the newly drafted Constitution would create a strong central government.
The main problem was that the Constitution did not have a section that guaranteed individual rights.
They believed that the Constitution diminished states' rights.
The antifederalists at the time of the ratification of the US Constitution believed the document invested too much power in the central government. They believed that the majority of the power should lie with the individual states.
The Bill of Rights.
The group of people who didn't support the Constitution were called Antifederalists. Their main problem with the Constitution was that it didn't have a section that listed their individual rights (Bill of Rights). They also argued that the national government was too strong and were afraid of tyranny. Some even thought that they shouldn't have created a new government. Most Antifederalists were small farmers and debtors. Antifederalists wrote articles and pamphlets and spoke out in state conventions. The articles and pamphlets became known as the Antifederalist Papers.
Federalists wanted the constitution. They supported Federalism (if you couldn't already tell from their label). Antifederalists opposed the Federalist views. They believed that the constitution took to much power from the states and thought it did not guarantee people's rights.
Differing views on these questions brought into existence two parties, the Federalists, who favored a strong central government, and the Antifederalists, who preferred a loose association of separate states. Impassioned arguments on both sides were voiced by the press, the legislatures, and the state conventions. In Virginia, the Antifederalists attacked the proposed new government by challenging the opening phrase of the Constitution: "We the People of the United States." Without using the individual state names in the Constitution, the delegates argued, the states would not retain their separate rights or powers. Virginia Antifederalists were led by Patrick Henry, who became the chief spokesman for back-country farmers who feared the powers of the new central government. Wavering delegates were persuaded by a proposal that the Virginia convention recommend a bill of rights, and Antifederalists joined with the Federalists to ratify the Constitution on June 25.
The most notable antifederalist from Virginia is Patrick Henry. Henry was invited to the Continental Congress but opted out in order to fight the new Constitution from the outside. Other antifederalists from Virginia include George Mason, a drafter of the Bill of Rights and Richard Henry Lee, drafter of the Declaration and a later Senator.
One reason the Antifederalists opposed the new constitution was that they were against any centralized American government forming in the first place. Any indication that this was moving forward was an affront to their ideals.
The Antifederalists were protesting against the new Constitution. They wanted a bill of rights, saying what the rights of citizens were. This is why the government made the first ten amendments, otherwise known as the US Bill of Rights.
Shays Rebellion contributed to the movement for new constitution by raising the fear of anarchy and disorder among wealthy conservatives. The rebellion was an uprising from a former militia officer that broke out in western Massachusetts.
The antifederalists opposed to Constitution, as they felt it jeopardized their individual rights and state supremacy.Federalists v. Anti-Federalists. Ratification & Anti-Federalist Opposition. John Jay (New York) --- these 3 wrote The Federalist Papers. The Anti-Federalist opposition to the Constitution is one of the least understood events in American history.
The Federalist Papers, written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton were arguments for the ratification of the new Constitution. They com batted the "antifederalists", who complained that the new draft emphasized too much power on the central government and gave the states too little power.