Federalists and Anti-Federalists

The Constitution

• The Electoral College• In what way was the Electoral College a

compromise?-Question Ch.9 Study Guide, II.4

How was slavery addressed in the Constitution?

• -in apportioning direct taxes and in according representation in the House of Representatives, slaves would count as three-fifths of a person (three-fifths compromise).

• the slave trade could not be touched until 1807 (at that time, Congress banned it).

Table 9-2 p173

In what ways did the Constitution seek to erect barriers against “mobocracy?”

• federal judges were appointed for life• the president was to be indirectly elected by

the Electoral College• senators were to be chosen indirectly by state

legislatures

What democratic elements existed in the Constitution?

• it was based on two main principles of republicanism- government was based on the consent of the governed and the powers of government should be limited

• the virtue of the people, not the authority of the state, was to be the ultimate guarantor of liberty, justice, and order: “We the people”

Who were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists?

Map 9-4 p174

Federalists

• Generally lived along the seaboard• Generally wealthier, more educated, and

better organized than the Anti-Federalists.

Anti-Federalists

• Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee• Generally states’ rights proponents,

backcountry people, small farmers• Generally the poorest classes

Anti-FederalistArguments

• the Constitution was written by aristocratic elements of society and was undemocratic

• sovereignty of the states were being submerged• freedoms of the individual were jeopardized by the

lack of a bill of rights• loss of annual elections for congressional

representatives, the creation of a federal stronghold (later D.C.), the creation of a standing army, the omission of any reference to God, and the procedure of ratification with only two-thirds of the states.

• The promise to add a bill of rights swayed some Anti-Federalists

• June 1788 the Constitution was officially adopted

Table 9-3 p175

p176

What do the authors mean when they say, “The minority had

triumphed- twice”?• -a militant minority of American radicals and

engineered the military Revolution. Now a minority of conservatives (embracing some of the earlier radicals) had engineered a peaceful revolution that overthrew the Articles of Confederation.

What do the authors mean by “Conservatism was victorious?”

• Can the Constitution be considered both a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation and a conservative document at the same time?