The Federalists and Anti-Federalists

Don’t forget about those Federalist Papers, too!!

Standard 8.2.4 Describe the political philosophy underpinning the Constitution as specified in the Federalist Papers and the role of such leaders….

Who were the Federalists?

• The Federalists supported the Constitution. They liked to explain what it was about and strongly defended it.

• Three of the most famous Federalists were James Madison, of course, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay

Who were the Anti-federalists?

• They believed that the Constitution created a national government that was too powerful.

• Men like George Mason and Patrick Henry also opposed the Constitution because there was no bill of rights to protect individual freedoms and felt it gave the president too much power

The Federalist Papers• What were they?

A series of essays that explained and supported the U.S. Constitution

• Who wrote them?Madison, Hamilton, and Jay wrote them, but James Madison was the primary author

The Federalist Papers

• What were the main arguments?– A republican form of

government would work well in the U.S., a very large territory

– Federalism allowed national and state governments to share power

– The Articles of Confederation created a weak government

So, what have you learned?

1. Who were the Federalists?2. Who were the Anti-

federalists?3. Why were the Federalist

Papers written?4. What did the Federalists

Papers say about the principle of Federalism?

5. Who was the main author of the Federalist Papers?