Introduction
Nowadays, the Anti-Federalists are mainly known for voicing their opposition to the US Constitution ratification. Their representatives expressed their concerns about the extensive power the national government was supposed to get due to this document. Although the group lost these debates, the reasonability of their arguments is still a question under discussion.
The main ideology of the movement
The primary fear of the Anti-Federalists was the potential unlimited authority of the national government. They assumed that the Constitution would enable the government to lay a heavy tax on the citizens as well as to lift military expenses that they considered unacceptable (Siemers 24). The Anti-Federalists rejected the idea of the federal structure’s success. They were firmly convinced that true democracy was only possible on the condition that the governmental power was decentralized over minor communities. Such manner of an organization was supposed to make the authorities bear responsibility for every action they undertake (Cammarota 86).
Another point the Anti-Federalists were highly alarmed by was the loss of control over the Supreme Court. They believed that this institution would take undue freedoms with the constitutional interpretation that would result in an undesirable expansion of the judicial authority. The party was perfectly conscious of the incredible diversity of the states’ citizens; they were afraid the Supreme Court would fail to defend the interests of all the groups equally (Kenyon 38). Moreover, the Anti-Federalists did not share the ideological aspect the Constitution proposed. This group was greatly concerned that the ratification of the Constitution would mean the establishment of the aristocratic tyranny – the interests of the few would dominate the needs and requirements of the majority (Mayville 2). Their representatives predicted the deprivation of such vital rights as the freedom of speech and press. Thus, they spoke about the impossibility of the Constitution’s ratification without the Bill of Rights. One should point out that this proposition was one of the few offers that had a full-throated society’s support (Bates 141).
The fears of the-Antisocialist are still being debated on the question of their justifiability. One can suppose that some of the arguments expressed by their representatives were to a certain degree reasonable. First of all, the federal income tax fixed in 1913 serves to prove one of their predictions. Secondly, the Fourteenth Amendment, which they could not naturally foresee, has, indeed, significantly extended the power of government. Moreover, the total Congress’s control over the militia has become a fact of reality and has already proved to have the destructive consequences the Anti-Federalists mentioned. Nevertheless, some of their fears were apparently exaggerated. Thus, their concern about the government’s depriving society of its major rights has not proved to be true. One should note that the over-dramatic character of their appeal found little resonation with the public mood. For this reason, the opposition party ceased to exist in a short period: some of its supporters would turn into Federalists (Faber 38).
Conclusion
In conclusion, one should point out that the contribution of the Anti-Federalists to the development of the national democracy is likely to be underestimated. The party members’ images often tend to carry negative implications. Meanwhile, the ideas these people stood by are reasonable enough to be properly analyzed. Their arguments can help one obtain a better understanding of the current state of things, as well as estimate the consequences of the Constitution’s ratification.
References
Bates, Christopher G. The Early Republic, and Antebellum America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History, New York, New York: Routledge, 2015. Print.
Cammarota, Michael 2012, Judicial Examination of Deregulation: Exploring
the Boundaries of Executive Discretion. PDF file. 2015. Web.
Faber, Michael 2012, The Union Paradigm of 1788: Three Anti-Federalists Who Changed Their Minds. PDF file. 2015. Web.
Kenyon, Cecelia. Men Of Little Faith, Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press, 2002. Print.
Mayville, Luke. “Fear of the Few: John Adams and the Power Elite.” Polity. 47.1 (2015): 5-32. Web. 2015.
Siemers, David J. The Antifederalists. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. Print.