Anti-Federalists

The Anti-Federalists were the people who opposed ratification of the Constitution in 1787-1788. They included figures such as Patrick Henry, George Mason, Richard Henry Lee and Melancton Smith, and writers who used pseudonyms such as "Brutus" and "the Federal Farmer."

They argued that the new national government would be too powerful and distant, that it threatened the sovereignty of states and that large republics tend toward consolidation and tyranny. They objected to the lack of a bill of rights, the power of federal taxation, the standing army and the Senate and executive. Many preferred a small republic where representatives were close to the people.

They lost the ratification contest, but their campaign led to the promise of amendments, and the first ten amendments, the Bill of Rights, including the Tenth Amendment, were adopted in 1791. Their writings are studied as the main alternative to the The Federalist Papers, and their worries about concentrated power appear in modern arguments for federalism and limited government. The names are labels given by opponents: they said they were the true federalists. Historians debate how united they were.