Federalists/Anti-Feds and Checks and Balances

What did the Anti-Federalists want added to the Constitution?

• A Bill of Rights

• A Preamble

• New Articles

• 27 Amendments

What were the Anti-Federalists afraid of?

• Strong state governments

• A weak central government

• A strong central government

• Weak state governments

Why would colonists fear a strong central government?

• The people had only known weak governments and were afraid of what they didn't understand

• They knew that the government would no longer let them break the law

• They wanted to make their states into their own countries

• King George abused his power and had too much

What is a Confederation?

• A military group

• A loose union of states, joined for a common purpose.

• Another name for a dictatorship

• When a prince becomes a king

The Anti-Federalists wanted...

• a strong central government

• a strong executive

• Rights listed in the Constitution

• the Constitution as written to be ratified.

What was the victory of the Anti-Federalists?

• The Preamble was altered to list the names of the states.

• The President would be elected by congress

• The Bill of Rights was added.

• The Supreme Court was given the power of Judicial Review.

Who were the Federalists who wrote the Federalist Papers?

• Hamilton, Madison, Jay

• Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Hancock

• Washington, Jefferson, Adams

• Lincoln, Sherman, Grant

Why were the Federalists against a Bill of Rights?

• They didn't believe that people deserved these rights.

• They wanted the Constitution to be short.

• Listing rights would tempt the government to violate them.

• Listing the rights would make the government think that the people had no other rights.

What did the Anti-Federalists want if the Constitution was to pass?

• A Bill of Rights

• A fourth branch of government

• A strong executive branch

• For the national government to be stronger than the states.

Why were the Federalists against a Bill of Rights?

• The Constitution did not protect the rights of the people.

• The Constitution as written already protected the rights of the people.

• The national government would never want to violate rights.

• Constitutions are not for protecting rights, they are for protecting laws.