History of the Anti-Federalist Movement

During the American Revolutionary War and its immediate aftermath, the term "federal" was applied to anyone who supported the colonial union and the government formed under the Articles of Confederation. After the war, a political group that felt that the national government under the Articles was too weak took on the name Federalist for themselves.

As the Federalists moved to amend the Articles, eventually leading to the Philadelphia Convention and drafting of a new Constitution, they dubbed their opposition Anti-Federalists. This term implied both opposition to Congress and unpatriotic motives. These so-called Anti-Federalists rejected the term, arguing that they were the true federalists. However, the Federalists prevailed and Anti-Federalist remained the term of choice for all opposed to amending the Articles of Confederation.

Anti-Federalist Arguments

Anti-Federalists represented diverse, though similar, opinions. Some were opposed to the Constitution because they felt a stronger government threatened the sovereignty and prestige of the states and localities. Some claimed a new, centralized, disguised "monarchic" power would only replace the system they had just fought against in Britain. Others simply feared the new government threatened their personal liberties.

Some among the opposition believed the central government under the Articles of Confederation was sufficient. Still others agreed with Federalists that the national government under the Articles was too weak, but felt that the national government under the Constitution would be too strong. A common complaint of Anti-Federalists was that the Constitution provided for a centralized, rather than federal, government, and that a truly federal form of government was a leaguing of states, as under the Articles of Confederation. They argued that the strong national government the Federalists proposed was a threat to the rights of individuals and that the US President would become a king-like figure. They also objected to the federal court system the proposed constitution created. Individualism was the opposition's strongest trait. The need for, or at least the appeal, of a bill of rights was almost universally felt.

Public Debate 

During the period of debate over the Constitution's ratification, numerous independent local speeches and articles were published countrywide. Initially, many of the articles in opposition were written under pseudonyms, such as Brutus, Centinel, and Federal Farmer. Eventually, famous revolutionary figures such as Patrick Henry came out publicly against the Constitution. This produced a phenomenal body of political writing. Historians gathered the best and most influential of the subsequent articles and speeches into a collection known as the Anti-Federalist Papers, alluding to the well-known Federalist Papers.

Opposition to the Constitution was strong in every state. In North Carolina and Rhode Island it prevented ratification until definite establishment of the new government practically forced compliance. In Rhode Island, resistance to the Constitution was so strong that civil war almost broke out on July 4, 1788, when Anti-Federalist members of the Country Party, led by Judge William W. West, marched into the city of Providence with over 1,000 armed protesters.

The Anti-Federalists appealed to these sentiments in the ratification convention in Massachusetts. Five of the states had ratified the Constitution with relative ease, but the Massachusetts convention was far more bitter and contentious. Ultimately, after long debate, what was known as the Massachusetts Compromise was reached; by which Massachusetts would ratify the Constitution with recommended provisions that the Constitution be amended with a bill of rights. Incidentally, short of rejecting the Constitution, the Federalists contended that a conditional ratification would be void, so the recommendation was the strongest support that the ratifying convention could give to a bill of rights.

Ratification and Anti-Federalist Influence

Four of the next five states to ratify, including New Hampshire, Virginia, and New York, included similar language in their ratification instruments. As a result, when the Constitution went into effect in 1789, Congress sent a set of 12 amendments to the states. Ten of the amendments were immediately ratified and became known as the Bill of Rights, with one of the other two becoming the 27th Amendment almost 200 years later. Thus, while the Anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in their quest to prevent the adoption of the Constitution, their efforts were not completely in vain.

With the passage of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Anti-Federalist movement was exhausted. It was succeeded by the more broadly based Anti-Administration Party, which opposed the fiscal and foreign policies of President George Washington.