Federalism and Antifederalism

  • Ratifying

    In many states, there were arguments about the constitution. People that agreed with the constitution called themselves "federalists" and people that disagreed called themselves antifederalists. federalists wanted a more national government while antifederalists thought that the articles of confederation were to strong
  • The antifederalist main argument

    Antifederalists argued that the constitution didn't have a list of rights while federalists argued that it wasn't possible to list every single right and that the constitution was still protecting people as much as they needed it. but the antifederalist still said they wanted a bill of rights.
  • The Bill of Rights pt 1

    The antifederalists said that if there wasn't a written list of their rights as a human then at least some of them would be forgotten or purposefully overruled. This was one of the main things that would be considered unfair in the declaration of independence. They thought that if they put too much power into the president that the president would have too much power over their representatives.
  • The Bill of Rights pt 2

    George Mason was one of the biggest supporters of antifederalism as just two years prior he had written the Virginia Bill of Rights. Eventually, after the confederation didn't agree with his Bill of Rights he decided to join the group of antifederalists.
  • States voting

    The states slowly started sending in their votes for weather or not they wanted federalism. The federalists told people that the confederate government would help improve the current government and that convinced many states
  • Later states voting

    Eventually, after some heated debates, states such as Massachusetts and New Hampshire voted in 1788. That meant the government had enough confirmation to start but some states like New York still hadn't voted.
  • Celebration

    Philidelphia held a festival on the 4th of July (the same one we know today). There was a huge crowd of people and a parade with people that had fought in the American revolution. This festival would become a tradition eventually because of how good a day it was.
  • The last to Ratify

    After a very long debate featuring politics like James Madison, Virginia fell into favor of federalism. Around a year later in November of 1788, North Carolina and Rhode Island, the last two states to vote, voted.
  • Elections

    The first election was held soon after the festival and George Washington was elected as president as everybody expected and John Adams was elected Vice. The Congress immediately added a bill of rights to the constitution too to avoid an uprise from the people.
  • The last step

    James Madison made sure the government knew that the Bill of Rights wasn't meant to give people rights, it was just meant to list them and prevent the government from taking them away. The first couple were to avoid abuse of people and the others were other things like how you don't have to agree to worship a religion you don't want to. In the end, The Bill of Rights somehow affected the entirety of the United States and the country changed a lot with it.