Category — Anti-Federalist

Individual rights were not a significant issue during the Constitutional Convention, but a Bill of Rights certainly became a major issue during ratification. Those who fought for a Bill of Rights weren’t looking for a government guarantee of an itemized list of rights. Even the anti-Federalists believed that rights came from God, not the government. These Constitutional dissenters were demanding that government be restricted from interfering with their rights. In other words, they wanted it made crystal clear where the government dare not tread.

George Mason was one of three attendees present at the close of the Constitutional Convention who refused to sign. He couldn’t be bought. He stood on principle because of his serious doubts about a Constitution lacking a bill of rights. He was right to be concerned.

Sometimes we aren’t always highbrow! This week’s puzzle is based on Benjamin Franklin’s Famous, Advice On Choosing a Mistress. (included below) Enjoy!

If your browser doesn’t like the interactive flash below you can try the non-interactive image.

Advice …

Whose government is it anyway? The first words of the Constitution refer to “We the People” as the source of government and the Founders went to great lengths to limit the power that government could exercise in our name. But somewhere between then and now something went terribly wrong.

We know a lot about what the Founders thought and the philosophical views they had because of their prolific letter writing and extensive chronicling of events. Those who dig into this wealth of material will begin to understand what set them apart and what the founding principles really were.

In anti-Federalist No. 1, Brutus argues against ratification of the new Constitution on the basis of his concerns about the amount of power to be vested in the new government. His concerns were not unjustified.

Hamilton may have gotten it wrong in Federalist 81. Old and new essays explain the dangers of judicial activism.

Looking back through the lens of history we tend to accept the sequence of events that gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as somehow inevitable.  Most Americans make little or no distinction between ratification of the Constitution …

In the fall of 1787 an anonymous anti-Federalist, writing under the pseudonym Centinel, wrote Anti-Federalist Arguments from Pennsylvania.  The first of these two letters appeared in the Philadelphia Independent Gazetteer on October 5th of that year.

Centinel suggests that …

At the time of this country’s founding the object of debate (while it sometimes did get heated) was to move the country forward. The Founders were looking for common ground so they could collaborate on important matters. It was not about earmarks, kickbacks, and vote trading.