Antifederalists
The Perils of Centralization: Anti-Federalist Federal Farmer No. 2-3
The Federal Farmer lays out a laundry list of reasons why the system under the constitution โwill have a strong tendency to aristocracy, or the government of the few.โ Predicting it would ultimately result in a consolidated government ruling by โfear and force.โ Path...
Beware of Tyrants: Anti-Federalist Federal Farmer No. 1
In the first of his 18 anti-federalist letters, the Federal Farmer warned against adopting a new system hastily out of fear, which has always โbeen the custom of tyrants and their dependents.โ Instead, he urged caution – and a deeper look at what might lead to...
Were the Anti-Federalists right?
The Anti-Federalists were a complex group of men dedicated to real federalism. That’s important. In fact, they should be called the Federalists, not the group who co-opted the name. You see, the “Federalists” we’ve come to know and love or...
The Imperial Senate: Anti-Federalist Warnings
A permanent or baneful aristocracy – despite federalist assurances to the contrary – with senators mostly serving for life – that’s what many anti-federalists warned we’d get with the structure of the federal Senate. Path to Liberty:...