Federalism and Anti Federalism

            The Anti-Federalists along with the Federalists believed in the importance of liberty and justice for all.  The Anti-Federalists believed that it was the purpose of the government to ensure liberty and justice for all.  “To the Anti-Federalists, liberty was equally precious.  But they emphasized the political rights of the people as much as the people as much as the people’s right to property.  Understood in this way, liberty was endangered less by oppressive majorities than oppressive rulers.”  (TDD P.38) The Anti-Federalists believed that wealth should not be so spread out.  They did not want a small percentage of people with a great amount of wealth because the citizens would desire more material possessions and that would lead to a less united nation.  “The public good would be neglected once Americans cared only about getting rich.”  However the Federalists believed that “Inequality in wealth and power inevitably accompanied liberty.”  (TDD P.38) 

            The Federalists believed in private property and argued that liberty was a possession.  They wanted a strong federal government and a strong military because it would prosper economic growth.  The Anti-Federalists did not want to have powerful military because they believed that it can lead to domestic tyranny and aggression instead of a larger military in which the Federalists believed in.  “The Anti-Federalists also disagreed with the Federalists about how liberty related to economic life and national defense.  Although desiring a prosperous America, they hoped for a simpler and more egalitarian society than the Federalists.”  (TDD P.39)

            The view of the Anti-Federalists can be similar to the ones held by the people opposed to War in Vietnam because like many of the people who opposed the War in Vietnam they wanted America to have a small military presence.  The Anti-Federalists would have preferred America to have smaller armed forces because in order to fight a war of any magnitude you must have an abundance of available troops at the disposal of the military.  The Anti-Federalists would have argued that a strong military might be used by rulers for domestic tyranny and foreign aggression.  A large military has not only gotten us involved in Vietnam but Spain, Mexico, Honduras, Korea, twice in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.  Some of these wars were necessary and some of them however were not.

            The Anti-Federalist position in many ways did not get many of their ideals into the Constitution.  They would have preferred more of their input and less input by the Federalists.  However the Bill of Rights written by James Madison advocated some of the ideals the Anti-Federalists had that were not included in the Constitution.  The Anti-Federalists had a drive to get the ideals into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights enabled them to do it.