antifederalists
States' rights advocates
Antifederalists were Americans who opposed ratifying the Constitution in 1787–88, fearing a powerful central government would threaten individual liberties and state sovereignty.
Their concerns led to the Bill of Rights.
The term now applies more broadly to anyone skeptical of federal power: Antifederalists in Congress blocked the spending bill.
Also spelled anti-federalists.
Governing principles document
- amendmentsFormal changes to documents
- Bill of RightsInitial constitutional amendments guaranteeing freedoms
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
- 1787Year Constitution was written
Philadelphia · framers · Brutus · Cato · Patrick Henry · George Mason · Samuel Adams · compromise
Unifying control in one place
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- consolidationCombining into unified whole
- aristocracyRule by hereditary elite
- standing armyContinuously maintained military force
corruption · oppression · executive power · taxation · representation · Hamilton · Madison · commercial interests
Supreme independent authority
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- localismPreference for nearby things
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- self-governmentRuling oneself independently
state legislatures · agrarianism · yeoman farmers · community · Jeffersonian · limited government · reserved powers
Constitution
Governing principles document
- amendmentsFormal changes to documents
- Bill of RightsInitial constitutional amendments guaranteeing freedoms
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
1787 · Philadelphia · framers · Brutus · Cato · Patrick Henry · George Mason · Samuel Adams · compromise · New York
centralization
Unifying control in one place
- tyrannyOppressive, absolute governance
- consolidationCombining into unified whole
- aristocracyRule by hereditary elite
standing army · corruption · oppression · executive power · taxation · representation · Hamilton · Madison · commercial interests · banking
sovereignty
Supreme independent authority
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- localismPreference for nearby things
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
self-government · state legislatures · agrarianism · yeoman farmers · community · Jeffersonian · limited government · reserved powers
antifederalistscentralists
Advocates of consolidated governance
nationalists · Federalist Party · Alexander Hamilton · James Madison · John Jay