Essay On Anti Federalists

Had I been alive during the debate over ratification of the Constitution, I believe that I would have been an Antifederalist. The Federalists pushed for the ratification of the Constitution without a bill of rights. The Anti-Federalists, on the other hand, did not want to ratify the Constitution because it did made the government too strong and didn’t protect the rights of the people. The Anti-Federalists were anti-British and pro-French and called for a smaller government that didn’t have as much power over the people. I think that if I was alive during the debate over the Constitution, I wouldn’t have been a strong Anti-Federalist, but I definitely would not have been a Federalist. I would have been deterred from any government involvement …show more content…
Because the government of Great Britain was so oppressive and tyrannical, I know that I wouldn’t have wanted anything that resembled that for the new United States of America. With a strong central government, Anti-Federalists believed that the government that the Federalists believed in would resemble that government of Great Britain. Although this didn’t prove to be true, I think that back then, I would have been too blinded by my desire to not have a government which resembled England’s than to think about the possible success that the new government could have. Another reason that I think I would have been an Anti-Federalist is because I would have believed in the importance of the Constitution having a bill of rights. Today, I believe in the protection of our individual rights, so I know that in the eighteenth century I would have had the same belief, perhaps even a stronger one. I would have believed that since our individual rights were taken away from us during Great Britain’s rule, that we would need a document to protect them. With no mention of human rights in the Constitution, I would not have voted for its