The Federalists and Antifederalists fighting over the ratification of the Constitution brought great hardships for the newly emerging U.
S. government and left behind two legacies that would cause conflict for years to come. Both of these groups came from very different social and economic backgrounds. The Federalists were advocates for the ratification of the Constitution while the Antifederalists were advocates for the Articles of Confederation. These parties paved the road for two legacies that still shape America to this day.The Federalist party was founded in 1792.
They were derived from the previous party called the Hamiltonians, which was started by followers of Alexander Hamilton. The Federalist party was usually of a higher social class. This party usually consisted of richer people in the country and higher dignitaries. On the other hand the Antifederalists were founded around the same time as the Federalists but were derived from a very different background.
The social and economic background of the Antifederalists was from the lower class.The lower class of people consisted of backcountry dwellers and horse farmers. They got their start from a group that followed Thomas Jefferson. This group was originally called the Jeffersonians. The Antifederalists opposed the ratification of the Constitution because they thought it would try and steal power back from the common folk of the country. There were a lot of debtors and paper-moneyites in this group and they saw in the constitution that it would force them to pay back their debts.
They favored the Articles of Confederation because it took power away from the central government and gave power back to the common folk. It also gave only one vote in congress for each state instead of the voting being based on population of the state. The Federalists opposed the Articles of Confederation because it took power away from “them”. They had influence and power on their side and greatly enjoyed the support of authority figures such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.With these authority figures on their side they wanted the ratification of the Constitution because it meant they would have most of the power in the country while the Antifederalists would suffer because they would go broke and have to pay off their debts. Also by having a Constitution it would give a firm unity of the people.
The lasting legacy of the Antifederalists was the Bill of Rights because it gave power back to the people. All along they just wanted the people to have some power in the government however, the Bill of Rights did not give power back to the people it just stated what power they had and gave them their rights.Their other legacy was the U. S. Senate which gave equal power to each of the states. The legacy of the Federalists was the Constitution.
This was eventually ratified after a year of arguing and changing little things in it. Their other legacy was the House of Representative which gave more power to the larger states. The Antifederalists were on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Federalists. Each left behind a lasting legacy which is still shaping our country to this day and is still argued about.
