Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist Debate After Articles of Confederation it was seen necessary to repeal the Articles and create one that is perfect for everyone in the country, but it wasn’t that easy. Federalists claimed that we needed a strong central government to prevent rebellions such as Shay’s Rebellion that damaged the states while the Anti- Federalists feared that a strong central government could turn into a kingdom like U. K. which they have fought and damaged deeply, recently.
In different topics such as Congress, Executive, Judicial and whether we needed to have Bill of Rights or not, oth parties debated and found solutions that still after hundreds of years works… Congress was one of the most important topics that has been debated about because there is a lot of aspects of how to set congress. First, Federalists believed we should use 3/5th compromise when counting the slaves to prevent the southerners from getting the benefit of both using them as tax burden and counting them during representatives.
Second, they believed that representative had to be at least 25 years old male and has to be a citizen for a minimum of 7 years, and that he must live in the state he is to represent and hold no other olitical office when in office. Third, they believed people should elect the House of Representatives and that the House of Representatives should be in office for a period of time that is not too short that causes representatives to not have done anything in that period of time but not too long either that causes “tyranny in the government”.
Biannual election cycle for the representatives should be good enough for the reasons stated above. Fourth, when choosing a senator, he has to be at least 30 years old and he needs to be a citizen for at least 9 years so that the senator’s character can be seen and judged roperly. Fifth, every state should have the same amount of senators in the office no matter the size or the population so that the voice of every state can be heard.
The senate is so important that if any other branches of government has corruption senate would be able to solve it and lastly, we need checks and balances so each branch of government can check on the other branch which enables us to have justice and democracy in our government. While the Anti-Federalist believed that it was injustice that the slaves that don’t defend or benefit the government would be counted during the opulation, and that small states would have the same amount of members in senate as the large ones.
The most important objection the Anti-Federalists hold against the Federalist plan, was the small amount of members in the houses which would lead into corruption because if there is small number of members in the houses, having even a two or three corrupted people in the congress would damage the country a lot. But if we have more senators and representatives even if we have few corrupted politicians they won’t damage the country as much as we fear. Another way of keeping corruption out of the congress s by making sure the people and those that represent them has same beliefs and goals in government.
After all this debate a congress that was mainly on the points Federalists had made such as 3/5th compromise, and equal number of senator for each state was built, but the concerns and fears of Anti- Federalists were taken under consideration when setting qualification of senators and representatives. Under the Articles of Confederation there wasn’t a president and the Federalists believed that there should be a president to make choices. While the Anti-Federalists feared that the ruling resident may turn into some kind of monarchy that would risk their freedom.
It was this essential question of whether to have a president or not that created the debate about the Executive Branch. Federalists believed that under the system of Checks and Balances other branches would limit the president’s power also they believed that even though the president has the power to hire and appoint people to the government their terms would be short and the president won’t be able to create any kind of monarch and also a Presidential cabinet still has to be appointed by the congress.
Federalists also believe the resident shouldn’t be appointed directly by the people, but indirectly through an Electoral College because they believed Electoral College represents the Common Men. Alexander Hamilton, Federalist, believed that members of the Electoral College should be resistant to corruption and unbiased. Anti- Federalists on the other hand, believed that “the president” under the Article of Confederation had a lot of power and didn’t have limits or boundaries and most importantly the details of what will happen after being elected such as how long the terms will be wasn’t set.
Clarification of these terms was important for Anti-Federalists, they also hoped for more representation for the people not only in the states but, also in the Central Government too, because there was a lack of representation for the citizens because decisions were made by federal government and not by the people. The Anti-Federalist also believed that the president didn’t had the proper advice since president is not directed by Constitutional Council.
This was a problem because if the president is not advised it could lead to tyranny in the government. After all these debates about the Executive Branch it was seen necessary to have a president, like he Federalists wanted but this president didn’t had too much power as the Anti-Federalists wanted. In Judiciary Branch the Federalists believed that there should be a separate and independent body that should be over the legislature.
Also the Supreme Court should enact laws of the states that contradicts with the constitution and create new laws when necessary. And most importantly in order to have complete trust to the judges and to prevent any kind of corruption from happening judges should be appointed for life so that they won’t ever fear to give the correct decision for the risk of losing their jobs. The Anti- Federalists believed Judiciary system under the federal government would unbalance government and put too much power to the courts for too long of period.
Also they believed the other branches won’t be able to check the court and the court won’t be able to be corrected because there is no higher court and most importantly the errors and mistakes of the courts would be irreversible. Anti-Federalists also believed we should punish judges by cutting wages when there is wrong done so the judges won’t get corrupted and make laws that controls their own checks. Judiciary branch was mainly based on Federalist Papers and as the Alexander Hamilton suggested the judges were appointed for life.
Federalists believed it was unnecessary to specifically have Bill of Rights because they believed same rights were protected by the constitution already, and that the Rights of Great Britain would still apply. While the Anti-Federalists believed that mankind always seeks freedom and a social contract between the person and the state or the government to protect safety and rights such as happiness, self- defense and unalienable. Anti-Federalists also believed states declaration of rights is not enough and that these rights are so ssential to life such as life, liberty and property that we can’t even risk losing it.
After all it was seen necessary to specifically have Bill of Rights as the Anti-Federalists wanted to keep our freedom. Both Federalist and Anti-Federalists has debated with true hearts and open minds to get rid of the not working system Articles of Confederation and create a new system the constitution on the basis of Bill of Rights so we the people can have a working and a safe government that puts the concerns and the needs of the people as its first priority as what democracy promises.
