The Handy Law Answer Book. David L Hudson
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James Madison co-wrote a series of articles with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay that became known as The Federalist Papers. These 85 essays written under the pen name Publius are still considered the definitive work on the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson once called them “the best commentary on the principles of government which ever was written.”
These articles discussed the framework of the Constitution, including the principles of checks and balances and separation of powers among three branches of government. Hamilton, Jay, and Madison sought to persuade the readers that the newly designed government was the best course of action for the young country. Hamilton wrote that the nation faced a “crisis.” He wrote that if the country voted against the new Constitution, that decision would “deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.”
In Federalist 45 Madison argued that the state governments did not have much to fear from the federal government. Madison wrote: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”
Did the Anti-Federalists have their own published writings?
Yes, the Anti-Federalists also relied on a series of anonymous essays. Several Anti-Federalists also wrote articles under pen names attacking various aspects of the Constitution. An Anti-Federalist who called himself the “Federal Farmer” critiqued the Constitution in a series of letters published in the Poughkeepsie Country Journal from November 1787 to January 1788. The letters also appeared in pamphlet form. For many years, it was assumed that Richard Henry Lee of Virginia was the author. Now, some historians believe the author was the New York Anti-Federalist Melancton Smith.
The “Letters from the Federal Farmer” criticized the new Constitution and its proponents as showing a “strong tendency to aristocracy.” The Federal Farmer argued that the Constitution concentrated too much power in the central government. The Federal Farmer also made some accurate predictions about the future of our government. For example, the Federal Farmer wrote: “This system promises a large field of employment to military gentlemen and gentlemen of the law.”
Robert Yates, a New York judge who served in the Convention, wrote a series of articles under the pen name “Brutus.” Brutus was the Roman republican who helped assassinate Julius Caesar to prevent Caesar from overthrowing the Roman Republic. In one of his articles he criticized the powers granted to the judicial branch. He wrote that “the supreme court under this constitution would be exalted above all other power in the government, and subject to no control.”
How did the battle between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists conclude?
The battle between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists was intense. However, the Federalists possessed advantages. They enjoyed most of the media support. The large newspapers from Boston, New York and Philadelphia took up the Federalist cause. They also seemed to have the best ammunition—the detailed document known as the Constitution. Though the Anti-Federalists made many arguments against provisions of the Constitution, they did not have their own document. The Anti-Federalists could only criticize the new document.
However, the Anti-Federalists seized upon the lack of a bill of rights as a prime weapon in the ratification battles. Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution and it did so unanimously on December 7, 1787. Then, an intense battle began in Pennsylvania. James Wilson took the lead in defending the Constitution in his home state.
In a well-known address delivered on October 6, 1787, Wilson argued that the inclusion of a bill of rights was “superfluous and absurd.” The new Congress, Wilson argued, “possesses no influence whatever upon the press.” Wilson pointed out that many Anti-Federalists were criticizing the new document because it provided for a standing army. Wilson responded: “Yet I do not know a nation in the world, which has not found it necessary and useful to maintain the appearance of strength in a season of the most profound tranquility.”
The state assembly had to vote on a state convention. Many of the Anti-Federalists in the state legislature refused to attend the assembly. They did not want the Assembly to have a quorum, or a sufficient number of members to take a valid vote. Allegedly, a mob of people broke into a local home and dragged two Anti-Federalists to the Assembly floor in order to create a quorum. The delegates voted 45 to 2 in favor of a ratification convention. The state convention met for five weeks. Finally, on December 12, 1787, the delegates voted for ratification by a vote of 46 to 23. The vote upset some citizens with Anti-Federalists’s sympathies. A mob of such people attacked James Wilson in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania delegates also considered fifteen amendments proposed by Anti-Federalist Robert Whitehill. These proposed amendments were similar to what would later become the U.S. Bill of Rights.
In what states was the ratification debate most intense and close?
Ratification was more difficult in the populous states of Massachusetts and New York. The debate in Massachusetts was particularly intense. Massachusetts voted 187 to 168 in favor of the Constitution on February 6, 1788, only after the Federalists agreed to recommend amending the Constitution to include protections for individual liberties.
Massachusetts became the first state officially to recommend amendments to the Constitution during the ratification process. Though the nine proposed amendments bear little resemblance to the final U.S. Bill of Rights, they were an important precursor to the Bill of Rights.
What happened in the large state of Virginia with respect to ratification?
Actually, New Hampshire became the required ninth state on June 21, 1788, voting 57 to 46 in favor of the Constitution. Although the Constitution was technically in effect after New Hampshire ratified it, Virginia was such a large and powerful state that it was crucial for it to ratify the Constitution. The large state of Virginia did not know that New Hampshire had become the necessary ninth state, so the debate continued there.
Virginia was the home of James Madison, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson, all of whom supported the Constitution. However, the state was also the home of a group of well-known Anti-Federalists, including Patrick Henry and George Mason. The battle in Virginia was particularly difficult. After one debate, Madison fell ill and was bed-ridden for three straight days. Some great statesmen, such as the brilliant orator from Virginia, Patrick Henry, led the Anti-Federalists. During the debate on the ratification in his state, Henry asked: “What right had they [the Constitution delegates] to say, ‘We the People?’”
In arguing against the Constitution, George Mason wrote, “It is ascertained, by history, that there never was a government over a very extensive country without destroying the liberties of the people.” However, state delegate Edmund Pendleton countered in the Virginia Ratification Convention: “In reviewing the history of the world, shall we find an instance where any society retained its liberty without government.”
In June, Governor Edmund Randolph stood up and spoke in favor of the Constitution even though he had failed to sign it last September. Randolph explained that he did not sign because the document did not contain necessary amendments. However, he said that because other states had proposed amendments to be passed after ratification, he would vote in favor of ratification. He also pointed out that eight other states had already ratified.
Patrick Henry charged that Randolph had been persuaded to change positions by none other than George Washington. Though this charge cannot be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, Washington did later name Randolph his first attorney general.
Madison managed to gather enough support for the Constitution in the Virginia state convention on June 25, 1788. The delegates narrowly approved the Constitution. Two days later, a committee at the convention proposed a bill of rights to be added to the Constitution. Virginia voted in favor of ratification by a narrow vote of 89 to 79. Virginia also attached proposed amendments as well, many of which would later be contained in the Bill of Rights. Some Anti-Federalists were very upset and wanted to resist the new Constitution. However,