1. Let’s start with the supporters of the Constitution

2. Those who supported the Constitution were called Federalists

3. Supporters were called federalists because the Constitution created a federal system of government

4. A federal system (or federalism)… one in which power is shared between the national government (called federal government) and the state governments

5. Remember, Under the Articles of Confederation, there was no sharing of powers The states had the power! The states were independent & sovereign

6. Leading federalists (supporters) of the Constitution were: 1) James Madison 2) Alexander Hamilton 3) John Jay

7. James Madison

8. Of course, Madison was going to be in favor of the Constitution Madison’s “Virginia Plan” basically became the Constitution (with a few tweaks and modifications)

9. Madison later becomes the 4th president of the United States

10. Madison was the shortest president in history… 5’4” and never weighing more than 100 pounds!

11. Alexander Hamilton

12. Remember, Hamilton was in favor of a strong central government He wanted to do away with state sovereignty Congress could veto any state law Governors would be appointed by Congress

13. Of course, Hamilton would be in favor of the Constitution (It gave much more power to the federal government than did the Articles of Confederation)

14. Hamilton was never a president, but one of the most influential of our Founding Fathers…

15. First Secretary of the Treasury

16. Hamilton… Chief of Staff to George Washington Founder of our nation’s financial system Founder of the first political party

18. John Jay

19. First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

20. What did the Federalists believe and why did they support the Constitution?

21. A strong national government can best represent the interest of all the people

22. A strong national government can protect all citizens against foreign nations

23. A strong national government can pay the nation’s debts and keep the value of American money stable

24. Under the Constitution, a strong national government would protect citizen’s rights

25. Those who opposed the Constitution were called anti-federalists opponents of the Constitution

26. The Anti-Federalists felt… the Constitution took too much power from the states and gave it to the federal government

27. The leading anti-federalists were… 1) Thomas Jefferson 2) Patrick Henry 3) James Monroe

28. Thomas Jefferson (author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd president of the United States)

31. Patrick Henry Henry led the opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765 and is remembered for his "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech. 

33. James Monroe 5th president of the United States

35. A central government is too removed from citizens to understand their needs

36. Vague wording in the constitution might lead to an abuse of power by the national government

37. A strong national government might swallow up state governments

38. A Bill of Rights is necessary to ensure that citizen’s rights are protected

39. Main Point To Remember
Federalists agreed with a strong central (federal) government
Anti-Federalists agreed with rights of the states

40. The Debate in the states…

41. The federalists wrote a series of essays and articles that were published in leading newspapers throughout the states in support of the Constitution

42. There were 85 of them in total

43. They were written by Hamilton (he wrote 51 of them), Madison (26), and Jay (5).

44. They are now called the Federalist Papers

45. The Federalist Papers were very influential in swaying public opinion in favor of ratification of the Constitution

46. The Federalist Papers

47. A big turning point came when the federalists agreed to add a Bill of Rights

48. The FIRST state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware on Dec. 7, 1787

49. The NINTH state to ratify the Constitution, thus making it the law of the land, was New Hampshire on June 21, 1788

50. North Carolina was the TWELTH state to ratify the Constitution

51. The LAST state to ratify it was Rhode Island on May 29, 1790