Compare And Contrast The Federalists And The Abolitionists

During and after the American Revolution, two vital issues were debated among American intellectuals and politicians. The first of these issues was how to balance individual liberty and social order; the second was whether or not to ratify the proposed United States Constitution. The belief of abolitionists was that all men deserved the same rights to freedom as one another while those benefiting from slavery believed that the two races, blacks and whites, could not live in harmony. On the other hand, the Antifederalists were fighting against the ratification of the Constitution on the grounds that it would weaken the power of states and create a consolidated government, and the opposing Federalists argued for its necessity to create a stronger, more unified, central government. A prominent issue in the fight for providing equal rights to all was race, more …show more content…
As predicted by Jefferson, the issue of slavery resulted in violence. Slavery was not abolished until the Thirteenth Amendment was added to The Constitution subsequent the American Civil War, and even then freed slaves were not treated equally. A fight for equality and fairness for all continues well into the present day. The Constitution was ratified through trade-offs between those for and against ratification. Essentially, The Massachusetts Compromise ended the debate. The Antifederalists agreed to ratify The Constitution on the basis that Congress would thereafter add a Bill of Rights. Consisting of ten amendments, the Bill of Rights was a measure against over-centralization of the government and for protecting the rights of citizens. Strangely enough, although issues of equal liberty and the power of the states and the power of the executive government have apparently been settled through legislation, they are frequently discussed by citizens and debated by their prospective and incumbent