!: Constitution Of The United States - Federalists vs Anti-Federalists

Argued by many as the oldest living written national constitution, the US constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787 by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America and consists of a preamble, seven original articles, twenty-seven amendments and a paragraph certifying its enactment by the constitutional convention.

Formation of United States of America and the adoption of a uniform US Constitution have a history that is worth a mention. As per Article Seven, the Constitution would come into force only when it is ratified by at least nine special state conventions. The states that did not approve the constitution would be considered as separate countries and will not be a part of the Union. Once the constitution was signed by the delegates of Constitutional convention in 1787, it had to be ratified by the states. However, many states had several apprehensions with regard to the US Constitution.

This was the period when federalists and anti-federalists came into existence. While federalists were the people who were supportive towards the adoption of the US constitution, anti-federalists were those who protested against the ratification of the constitution. Prominent among these included Patrick Henry, George Mason and Edmund Rudolph. Leaders among federalists included James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.

Both the federalists and anti-federalists had contrasting view points regarding the formation and nature of federal government. While the federalists favored the creation of one single nation with 13 different states, anti-federalists preferred the creation of a federal government as a confederation of 13 individual republic states. According to them, every state should have an independent sovereign government. There were several arguments placed against the adoption of the constitution but were effectively outplayed by federalists. As a result, all the 13 states ratified the constitution, giving the federalists a great victory.