State Ratifying Conventions
Forgotten Anti-Federalist Warnings on the Constitution from Elbridge Gerry
Elbridge Gerry warned that “the existence of their liberties will soon be terminated” under the Constitution without significant amendments. As one of the most active delegates at the Philadelphia Convention, Gerry ultimately refused to sign the final document....
Conspiracy: Luther Martin’s Anti-Federalist Warnings about Centralization
Luther Martin, the Anti-Federalist firebrand, predicted that the Constitution would lead to a national system of consolidated power that could never secure liberty. He argued this was an intentional conspiracy – a deliberate plan at the Philadelphia Convention...
Forgotten Anti-Federalist Warnings: The Pennsylvania Dissent
One of the most influential Anti-Federalist essays against the Constitution didn’t come from a single writer. It came from a group of delegates at the Pennsylvania ratifying convention. Their warnings – about centralization of power, corruption, and more –...
Anti-Federalist vs Federalist CLASH: Montesquieu and Separation of Powers
Liberty is doomed where power is united – consolidated in the same hands. That’s the warning Montesquieu gave us about separation of powers. This was one of the biggest battles between Federalists and Anti-Federalists But here’s the twist: both sides used the...