Federalists
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| •Key terms • Court cases •Major arguments • State responses to federal mandates • Federalism by the numbers • Index of articles about federalism |
Federalists were people who supported the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and the full replacement of the Articles of Confederation. They supported a stronger national government and did not generally believe the government, limited by the Constitution, would pose a threat to individual rights or liberties. Some of the most well-known Federalists were James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, who wrote the Federalist Papers.[1]
Background
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were an agreement among the original thirteen states in the United States to unite under a central government consisting of the Continental Congress. The Continental Congress proposed the Articles in 1777, and they became effective in March 1781.
The Articles primarily authorized the national government to govern diplomatic foreign relations and regulate and fund the Continental Army. Under the Articles, the Continental Congress lacked the power to levy taxes and could only request funds from the states. The inability of the national government to raise money caused the government to default on pension payments to former Revolutionary War soldiers and other financial obligations, resulting in unrest. Shay's Rebellion was a prominent example of unrest related to the weakness of the central government and the Continental Congress' inability to fulfill its obligations.
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was convened to solve the problems related to the weak national government. Prominent federalists like James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay advocated for a completely new government under the United States Constitution. The federalists thought the strengthened national government could help protect individual rights from factional conflicts at the state and local levels.[1][2][3]
Anti-federalists like Patrick Henry, Melancton Smith, and George Clinton argued that the national government proposed under the Constitution would be too powerful and would infringe on individual liberties. They thought the Articles of Confederation needed amended, not replaced.[1][2][3]
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