Federalists Vs Anti-federalists Essay Example

The Federalist responded to the Anit-Federalists by telling the people why the constitution should be implemented. The Federalists believed that the best way to prevent a bad law from being passed was to prevent a law from being passed at all. The Federalists also argued that the greatest dangers to the common good and the natural rights of citizens in republics had been from the pursuit of selfish interests by groups of citizens who ignored the common good which the Anit-Federalists did not believe. The Federalists also said that it is unrealistic to expect people in a large and diverse nation, living hundreds of miles apart, to sacrifice their own interests for the benefit of others.  

The ratification process for adopting the Constitution was a prolonged process some people did not agree with it like the Anti-Federalists. They did not want a constitution while the Federalists wanted the constitution. It took a while for the Federalists to overcome the anti-federalists, it took nine states to ratify the constitution. It was finally ratified in June 1788. There were many different steps like having everyone agree on what was going to be in the constitution. Debates took place on if there should be no constitution or if there should be a constitution. Obviously, we know which side won. Now the question was what should be included. Importantly, which democratic principles would it reflect. A democratic principle that the constitution reflects is, everyone is created equal. They wanted the government to be run fairly and equally. They did not want our nation to be run by a republican government. They did, however, believe in republicanism. Another principle was the belief in the common good. Being good to the majority and the minority. Civic Virtue could no longer be relied on as sole support to be government that could protect people’s rights and promote their welfare. Many delegates from the Virginia Convention still doubted civic virtue to promote the common good and protect ones’ rights. The three branches of the government were a big part of the building of the constitution. The three branches are the Legislature, Executive, and Judicial branches. The Anti-Federalists proposed the Bill of Rights which the Federalists were against. To get some Anti-Federalists to agree to the Constitution they struck a deal with them. They agreed to use the Bill of Rights which pleased the anti-federalists. Ratification by eleven states still did not please North Carolina and Rhode Island. They were still opposed to the constitution. It was proposed that the ten amendments be the Bill of Rights was when North Carolina decided to ratify the Constitution. Then finally on May 29th, 1790, Rhode Island was forced to join the union of threats that their biggest city would leave. At this point all the 13 colonies decided to ratify the Constitution. A little of a year later General George Washington became the United States' first president.