Explore Voting & Elections in the United States of America: Federalism & Anti-Federalism
Federalism & Anti-Federalism
Federalism
A system of government whereby sovereignty is divided among a strong central authority and constituent subunits. Authority is divided between at least two levels, such as national and state governments, whereby each level retains sovereignty over matters in some areas. The authority each maintains is constitutionally authorized. Federalism gained momentum in the United States in the past two decades of the 19th century, especially after the Civil War. The earliest Federalists believed that a strong central government would facilitate the economic and political strength needed to maintain independence, especially from England. The Anti-Federalists, however, argued that federalism would replace one tyranny with another. The system that was created was a dual federalism in which both the federal and the state governments were considered coequals. Although dual federalism existed theoretically, in practice, the federal government had the greater power over states’ interests. After the Depression of the 1930s and two world wars, the federal government became even more centralized. The provisions of the New Deal recognized that a strong federal government was needed for a national economic crisis. The national government assumed authority over areas of economic regulation and development that had previously been the domain of the states. Since then, there has been a gradual shift to cooperative federalism, which asserts that the national government is supreme over the states.
MLA 8th Edition (Modern Language Assoc.)
Larry E. Sullivan. The SAGE Glossary of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. SAGE Publications, Inc, 2009.
Anti-Federalist
A movement active in the 1780s in political opposition to the Federalist movement. The Federalists supported a stronger national government than the one put forth in the Articles of Confederation. On the other hand, the Anti-Federalists envisioned the United States as a small republic composed of self-reliant, politically active citizens. A fear existed among the Anti-Federalists that a powerful, centralized government would only lead to tyrannical oppression from the very type of establishment they had sought to escape from when leaving Great Britain. At the Convention of 1787, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists debated their respective causes and compromised with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and accompanying Bill of Rights. Prominent Anti-Federalists were Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee of Virginia and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts.
MLA 8th Edition (Modern Language Assoc.)
Larry E. Sullivan. The SAGE Glossary of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. SAGE Publications, Inc, 2009.
Helpful Links- Federalists & Anti-Federalists
Helpful Books from the SJR State Library
The Age of Federalism by Call Number: St. Augustine Circulation E310 .E45 1993ISBN: 0195068904Publication Date: 1993-08-26When Thomas Jefferson took the oath of office for the presidency in 1801, America had just passed through twelve critical years, years dominated by some of the towering figures of our history and by the challenge of having to do everything for the first time. Washington, Hamilton, Madison,Adams, and Jefferson himself each had a share in shaping that remarkable era--an era that is brilliantly captured in The Age of Federalism.Written by esteemed historians Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism gives us a reflective, deeply informed analytical survey of this extraordinary period. Ranging over the widest variety of concerns--political, cultural, economic, diplomatic, and military--the authorsprovide a sweeping historical account, keeping always in view not only the problems the new nation faced but also the particular individuals who tried to solve them. As they move through the Federalist era, they draw subtly perceptive character sketches not only of the great figures--Washington andJefferson, Talleyrand and Napoleon Bonaparte--but also of lesser ones, such as George Hammond, Britain's frustrated minister to the United States, James McHenry, Adams's hapless Secretary of War, the pre-Chief Justice version of John Marshall, and others. They weave these lively profiles into ananalysis of the central controversies of the day, turning such intricate issues as the public debt into fascinating depictions of opposing political strategies and contending economic philosophies. Each dispute bears in some way on the broader story of the emerging nation. The authors show, forinstance, the consequences the fight over Hamilton's financial system had for the locating of the nation's permanent capital, and how it widened an ideological gulf between Hamilton and the Virginians, Madison and Jefferson, that became unbridgeable. The statesmen of the founding generation, theauthors believe, did "a surprising number of things right." But Elkins and McKitrick also describe some things that went resoundingly wrong: the hopelessly underfinanced effort to construct a capital city on the Potomac (New York, they argue, would have been a far more logical choice thanWashington), and prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts which turned into a comic nightmare. No detail is left out, or left uninteresting, as their account continues through the Adams presidency, the XYZ affair, the naval Quasi-War with France, and the desperate Federalist maneuvers in 1800,first to prevent the reelection of Adams and then to nullify the election of Jefferson.The Age of Federalism is the fruit of many years of discussion and thought, in which deep scholarship is matched only by the lucid distinction of its prose. With it, Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick have produced the definitive study, long awaited by historians, of the early nationalera.
Federalists and Antifederalists by Call Number: St. Augustine Circulation KF4515 .F44 1998ISBN: 0945612575Publication Date: 1998-08-01For a quarter of a century between 1763 and 1788, Americans intensely debated the nature of government and the need to protect individual liberties. The debate climaxed in the arguments over the ratification of the Constitution. Through a selection of essential documents from 1787 and 1788, this new edition gives readers the flavor and immediacy of the great debate in all its fire, brilliance, and political intensity. Organized by topic, this is a convenient reference and teaching tool. This updated edition contains an entirely new section on the debate over class structure, property rights, and the economy under the proposed Constitution--an ideal introduction to a debate meaningful today.
