Why did Patrick Henry oppose ratification of the new Constitution?

Answer 1

Specifically he opposed the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution which he felt gave the Federal Government unlimited powers and would eventually lead to infringement of civil rights.

Answer 2

Patrick Henry feared just about everything about the constitution. The Constitution attempts to lay out power so that 50% is central government, and 50% of power goes to local and state government.

He stormed out of the convention because he was very Anti-Federalist and was deathly afraid of what the Federalists would turn the country into. He wanted central government to have as little power as possible.

Answer 3

Henry criticized the constitution strongly. He believed that the central government too closely resembled the British government which we fought so hard to be rid of. He also believed that a strong federal government would centralize the power and eventually take away the power from the people. It would appear that he is more correct all the time. Also the constitution at the time had no Bill of Rights. He fought on behalf of the American people to have a bill of rights added to the constitution. Of the 12 ammendments proposed, only 10 were ratified. They are the ones we know today as the bill of rights. Patrick Henry was still not satisfied, but he did not want to start another revolution. It is thanks to him that we have the bill of rights today which is the basis for our freedoms we have as Americans.

Answer 4

Patrick Henry thought the Constitution gave to much power to the federal government.

Answer 5

He did not feel that a republican form of government could work on a national scale

Answer 6

Henry believed that the US Constitution gave much too much power to the federal government.

Answer 7

He felt it gave too much power to the federal government. Even after the tenth amendment was adopted he felt that there would be found ways of getting around it.