Federalists : Big Names: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (All writing under the name “Publius”), Supporters: Property owners, wealthy merchants in Northern states, people in urban areasAlexander Hamilton, The elites are best prepared to govern for the rest of the nation. We do not trust all people to make decisions, and envision a government at a distance from regular people., We favor the New Constitution: a powerful central government, two houses in Congress, three branches with checks and balances, less direct and more representative democracy., The Constitution creates a central government with limited powers. There is no threat to individual rights since each state constitution has its own bill of rights., States need to be organized under a larger, more powerful central government. The new Constitution shares power with the states. And you can’t have a federal government without the states., The executive branch is important, and a president is necessary to enforce laws and conduct foreign policy. The Constitution sets up many limits on this position’s level of power and influence., The Supreme Court is the weakest branch; it can’t pass laws or control the military. It’s an appropriate part of the three branches and the proposed system of checks and balances., Anti-Federalists: Big Names: Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, Supporters: Small farmers, shopkeepers, laborers, people in rural areasGeorge Mason, The elites are corrupt, and we want to include more people in the democratic process to balance it out. We feel that more frequent elections could address this concern., We prefer the Articles of Confederation: strong state governments, weak central government, frequent elections, and more direct democracy., A Bill of Rights is necessary to protect the rights of citizens. The proposed Constitution does not do enough to protect rights., States should maintain their power and not lose that power to a central government. The new Constitution will destroy the state governments., A president is basically an elected king. The Constitution gives this role too much power among the three branches. We doubt there will be a peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next., The Constitution creates a Supreme Court that is too strong—the justices don’t have to answer to anyone.,

Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

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