HIST-405N Week 2 Discussion 2: Confederation and Constitution

WEEK 2: CONFEDERATION AND CONSTITUTION Excellent start to the discussion! The Articles of Confederation were ultimately a failure because the system of government provided for too much state autonomy and too few mechanisms for the federal government to assert authority. Essentially, the Articles formed a United States that was plural, multiple pseudo-independent states with a very weak central government. While I'm really comparing apples and oranges here, you can kind of look at this like the modern European Union. Each country in the EU maintains its own independently elected government. While the EU has a government of its own, its authority over the individual countries of the EU is quite weak. As the weaknesses of the Articles became increasingly apparent, delegates from states met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to draft a new constitution. Once drafted, this document would have to be approved by nine of the thirteen states. This is odd since the current Articles of Confederation called for unanimous approval from all states. Suspecting that to be an impracticality, the members of the convention bent the rules. The debate over the adoption of the new constitution would involve two main sides, the Federalists and the anti-Federalists. To continue, let’s identify these two groups. Who were the Federalists and what did they believe? Who were the anti-Federalists and what did they believe? References: Berkin, C., Miller, C. L., Cherny, R. W., Gormly, J. L. (2012). Making America: A history of the United States: Volume 1: To 1877 (6th edition). Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Cornell, S., Keene, J.D. & O'Donnell, E.T. (2013). Visions of American: a history of the United States (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson. Response: The Federalist was a group that supported the Constitution and was led by Alexander Hamilton and included Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington. They were the first political party of the United States. Federalists’ beliefs could be better described as nationalist. They wanted to create a strong central government. They believed that the Bill of Rights was not needed in the Constitution instead wanted to create a “parchment barrier” that limited the rights of the people instead of protecting them. The Anti-Federalist was a group that was opposed to the ratification of the Constitution. Even though they were less organized than the Federalist the also had leaders who were prominent in state politics, including James Winthrop, Patrick Henry, and John Hancock. They wanted power in the states and not a central government. They did not believe the Constitution was enough to protect individual rights. “Although the Anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in the prevention of the adoption of the Constitution, their efforts were responsible for the creation and implementation of the Bill of Rights (, 2018).” References: Keene, J. D., Cornell, S. T., O'Donnell, E. T. (12/2011). Visions of America: A History of the United States, 2nd Edition. . (2018, 01 13). US. History Online Textbook- Federalists. . (2018, 01 13). US. History Online Textbook- AntiFederalists.