During the
American Revolution and its immediate aftermath, the term
federal was applied to any person who supported the colonial union and the government formed under the
Articles of Confederation. After the war, the group that felt the national government under the Articles was too weak appropriated the name
Federalist for themselves. Historian
Jackson Turner Main wrote, "to them, the man of 'federal principles' approved of 'federal measures', which meant those that increased the weight and authority or extended the influence of the Confederation Congress." As the Federalists moved to amend the Articles, eventually leading to the
Constitutional Convention, they applied the term anti-federalist to their opposition. The term implied, correctly or not, both opposition to Congress and unpatriotic motives. The Anti-Federalists rejected the term, arguing that they were the true federalists. In both their correspondence and their local groups, they tried to capture the term. For example, an unknown Anti-Federalist signed his public correspondence as "
A Federal Farmer" and the New York committee opposing the Constitution was called the "Federal Republican Committee". However, the Federalists carried the day and the name Anti-Federalist forever stuck. and those who simply feared that the new government threatened their personal liberties. Some of the opposition believed that the central government under the Articles of Confederation was sufficient. Still others believed that while the national government under the Articles was too weak, the national government under the Constitution would be too strong. Another complaint of the Anti-Federalists was that the Constitution provided for a centralized rather than federal government (and in
The Federalist Papers,
James Madison admitted that the new Constitution had the characteristics of both a centralized and federal form of government) and that a truly federal form of government was a leaguing of states as under the Articles of Confederation. During the period of debate over the ratification of the Constitution, numerous independent local speeches and articles were published all across the country. Initially, many of the articles in opposition were written under pseudonyms, such as "Brutus" (likely
Melancton Smith), "Centinel" (likely
Samuel Bryan), and "
Federal Farmer." Eventually, famous revolutionary figures such as
Patrick Henry came out publicly against the Constitution. They argued that the strong national government proposed by the Federalists was a threat to the rights of individuals and that the
president would become a king. They objected to the federal court system created by the proposed constitution. Minority groups also contributed, such as
Mercy Otis Warren who disguised herself as "A Colombian Patriot," thought to be
Elbridge Gerry. Warren's most notable pamphlet discussed the treatment of minorities and American natural rights; this pamphlet was titled "History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution". This produced a body of political writing; the best and most influential of these articles and speeches were gathered by historians into a collection known as the
Anti-Federalist Papers in allusion to the
Federalist Papers. The authors of these works did not organize together as a group. Instead, they used the medium of print to spread their ideas individually. In many states the opposition to the Constitution was strong (although Delaware, Georgia, and New Jersey ratified quickly with little controversy), and in two states—
North Carolina and
Rhode Island—it prevented ratification until the definite establishment of the new government practically forced their adherence. Individualism was the strongest element of opposition; the necessity, or at least the desirability, of a bill of rights was almost universally felt. The Anti-Federalists played upon these feelings in the ratification convention in
Massachusetts. By this point, five of the states had ratified the Constitution with relative ease, but the Massachusetts convention was far more disputed and contentious. After a long debate, a compromise (known as the "
Massachusetts compromise") was reached. Massachusetts would ratify the Constitution with recommended provisions in the ratifying instrument that the Constitution be amended with a bill of rights. (The Federalists contended that a conditional ratification would be void, so the recommendation was the strongest support that the ratifying convention could give to a bill of rights short of rejecting the Constitution.) Four of the next five states to ratify, including
New Hampshire,
Virginia, and
New York, included similar language in their ratification instruments. As a result, shortly after the Constitution became operative in 1789, Congress sent a set of twelve amendments to the states. Ten of these amendments were immediately ratified and became known as the
Bill of Rights, with one of the other two becoming the
27th Amendment—almost 200 years later. Thus, while the Anti-Federalists were unsuccessful in their quest to prevent the adoption of the Constitution, their efforts were not totally in vain. The Anti-Federalists thus became recognized as an influential group among the
Founding Fathers of the United States. With the passage of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Anti-Federalist movement was exhausted. Some activists joined the
Anti-Administration party that James Madison and
Thomas Jefferson were forming about 1790–91 to oppose the policies of Treasury Secretary
Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton's Pro-Administration faction became the
Federalist Party, while the group opposing Hamilton soon became the
Democratic-Republican Party. When Jefferson took office as the third president in 1801, he replaced Federalist appointees with Democratic-Republicans and sought to focus on issues that allowed the states to make more of their own decisions in matters. He also repealed the whiskey excise and other federal taxes, shut down some federal offices and broadly sought to change the fiscal system that Hamilton had created. == Notable Anti-Federalists ==