The Anti-Federalists Were Right.

[Wessexman]

I'm quite interested in the American founding father's and similar, particularly the Anti-federalists, Anti-administration party and Jeffersonian/Republicans. I found this article on my journey's around the web and find it very interesting.

The Anti-Federalists Were Right by Laurence M. Vance

....."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."

~ James Madison, Federalist No. 45

History has shown this statement to be either wishful thinking or a deliberate falsehood. Regardless of which opinion you hold, the Anti-Federalists were right. They correctly predicted the unlimited power of a consolidated government under the Constitution. Not only were the Anti-Federalists right to a degree that they could never have imagined; I seriously doubt that the Federalists could have envisioned or would have approved of their new government becoming the monstrosity that it now is.....



I'm not sure if I agree with the article and it isn't my business anyway to judge but I'm wondering what Americans think of the whole business of federalists versus anti-federalists as I find it fascinating.

I'm particularly interested in the conservative and libertarian viewpoints as I can guess the average liberal viewpoint.

 

[PerryLogan]

The Industrial Revolution effectively made the Federalists an anachronism of history. You just can't run a 21st-century nation on 18th century rules.

"Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the Covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind as that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, institutions must advance also, to keep pace with the times We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain forever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
-- Thomas Jefferson, on reform of the Virginia Constitution

 

[Wessexman]

What do you mean by federalism? The ideology behind the constitution? It gets confusing because the anti-federalists actually claimed to be the true federalists because they wanted to retain a lot of state power whereas they accused the federalists of sacrificing that, not without reason, to get a stronger national gov't and hence not being federalists.

Thomas Jefferson wanted most gov't to reside at the ward or township level and only be very sparingly given up in extremely small amounts to higher levels for a few functions. He was a man of my own heart.