With the fight for independence over, members of the newly formed United States sat down to write a set of laws for the nation. However, they were met with growing apprehension from Anti-Federalists, who favored strong state governments as opposed to a powerful central government. This group of commoners was afraid that this new form of government would resort to the monarchist principles of the former British regime, so they called for a protection of individual rights. On the other hand, Federalists were in support of a fortified central government. Both political parties had to reach a compromise in order to get the Constitution ratified, so James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights, or the first ten amendments of the Constitution. They appeased
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However, the Anti-Federalists were still unsatisfied with the current document; George Mason marched out of the Constitutional Convention because the Constitution did not have any sections mentioning basic human rights (ushistory.org). He chose not to sign the document, “citing the absence of a declaration of rights as his primary concern,” (“A Biography of George Mason 1725-1792”). Additionally, Mason thought, “the new government was destined to either become a monarchy or fall into the hands of a corrupt, oppressive aristocracy,” (“A Biography of George Mason 1725-1792”). His authority and position in the American Government gave him a great deal of influence, so his notions about the current Constitution sparked awareness for the need of a bill of rights. His fears that the government would assert too much power and infringe upon the rights of the people in the United States fueled the measures taken to draft the actual Bill of Rights. The current version of the Constitution alarmed George Mason, and he believed that the U.S. government would soon become corrupt and aristocratic. Also, the Bill of Rights drafted by James Madison was heavily inspired by Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights (“Bill of Rights of the United States of America
However, the Anti-Federalists were still unsatisfied with the current document; George Mason marched out of the Constitutional Convention because the Constitution did not have any sections mentioning basic human rights (ushistory.org). He chose not to sign the document, “citing the absence of a declaration of rights as his primary concern,” (“A Biography of George Mason 1725-1792”). Additionally, Mason thought, “the new government was destined to either become a monarchy or fall into the hands of a corrupt, oppressive aristocracy,” (“A Biography of George Mason 1725-1792”). His authority and position in the American Government gave him a great deal of influence, so his notions about the current Constitution sparked awareness for the need of a bill of rights. His fears that the government would assert too much power and infringe upon the rights of the people in the United States fueled the measures taken to draft the actual Bill of Rights. The current version of the Constitution alarmed George Mason, and he believed that the U.S. government would soon become corrupt and aristocratic. Also, the Bill of Rights drafted by James Madison was heavily inspired by Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights (“Bill of Rights of the United States of America