Federalists versus Antifederalists: key differences and debates

Federalist and Anti-Federalist Beliefs

The objective of this study is to determine if the beliefs of the Federalists were more convincing than those of the Anti-Federalists and if so then why they were more effective. The arguments of the anti-federalist is that liberty cannot be secured when it is held by a government that is one that holds a great deal of power and is distant from the population and that decentralization is a requirement for freedom to exist. (Wilson and Diluli, p. 41)The Federalists favored the establishment of a strong central government on the basis of the Constitution while Anti-federalists were opposed to this due to their concern that the influence of the states would be lost with the national government's power. The Federalists favored state power being limited while the Anti-Federalists supported the states in their acquiring and maintaining power and influence. The Anti-Federalists held that the Bill of Rights was essential to government and protecting the rights of citizens while the Federalists held that the Bill of Rights was not necessary. The Federalists held that the Articles of Confederation were not effective in governing and that the power of Congress would be limited to requesting state cooperation while the Anti-Federalists held the Articles of Confederation should be amended rather than abandoned entirely. The Federalists held that a large republic was viewed as the protection that is best for freedom of individuals while the Anti-Federalists held that rights could only be protected by a small republic. Finally, Federalists included such as large farmers, merchants and artisans while Anti-Federalists were small farmer from rural areas and included only a very few men of wealth. Federalists were those who believed in a large complex government and while this form of government is very powerful, it is simultaneously far-reaching into the lives of the population. The Bill of Rights guarantees American citizens certain "inalienable rights" relating to freedom of speech, the right to be secure in one's homes and papers, along with other extremely important rights that secure the individual's freedom and not just their freedom but their freedom to choose in their own life. When government becomes too large it simultaneously becomes very expensive to operate and the government and its employees impact the lives of the American citizen by the increase in demands for funds to support the government and its employees, or in other words, seeks the monies needed to make the payroll of the all too large government's employees. These funds are generally acquired through raising taxes, setting quotas for law enforcement on driving violation ticketing, by leaning too hard on the working individuals in society and draining them of their hard earned income. Presently the government has become far too large and the middle class has been drained to a point where there is no longer a middle class but instead those who are wealthy and in the favor of the government through their political connections and thereby avoid the fate of the average low income citizen. One can walk into a courtroom in any county and state and it immediately becomes clear that the individuals charged with crimes and brought before the court, and whom having been searched without benefit of a search warrant and in many cases assaulted, tasered and if less fortunate do; not make it to the courtroom become the militarized law enforcement overstepped their boundaries, training and ethical obligations to society and killed the individual. In a small decentralized government law enforcement has the role of protecting and serving, but where government becomes too large and very powerful, the role of law enforcement is to serve and protect the government because once having become too powerful, those in places of power focus on preserving their power, their income, and toward this end the average American citizen is counted as nothing in the greater scheme of things. The Federalists while making their views of government sound really good are actually in application a sure recipe for the decline of the population as the government drains the life of the people away preserving a powerful and greedy governmental structure.