Ratification of The Constitution■ Ratify- to approve■ Federalists vs. Antifederalists■ Antifederalists- were against the Constitution

because they thought it gave too much power to the Federal Government, and not enough to the people and states.

■ Federalists- supported the Constitution, as they felt is what a far superior system of government.

The Struggle for Ratification■ There was not overwhelming support for the

ratification immediately. There were two main groups that were in opposition.

■ The Federalists were supporters of the new Constitution, while the Antifederalists were strongly against it.

Federalists

■ Key Leaders-John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. Developers of the Federalist Papers

■ They knew that a stronger Federal government was going to make the country stronger.

■ Their job was to convince the people that the system of shared powers (Federalism) was beneficial to the nation

Antifederalists

■ Those who were opposed or against the Constitution.

■ Key Leaders- George Mason and Patrick Henry.■ They felt that the Constitution was taking too much

power from the states and that there were no rights guaranteed for the people.

■ This oppositional group would be key in getting the Bill of Rights.

Federalist Papers

■ A series of essays that were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.

■ These essays were a response to counter the Antifederalist attacks on the Constitution.

■ The articles explained the reasons why they should support the Constitution. It spelled out in detail how Federalism works and how the Constitution would function.

Battle for RatificationArticle 7 Page 265■ Many Antifederalists said they would not support

the Constitution until a bill of rights was added for the people.

■ The first 4 states to ratify the document occurred in December of 1787.

■ It would not be official until at least 9 states ratified it which occurred in June of 1788.

■ Rhode Island was the last to ratify it in 1790.