In contrast to Hamilton, Madison and Jay who supported ratification of the Constitution of the United States, many others did not. While the former’s works were more logically organized (and eventually won the debate), the Anti-federalist writers were nonetheless articulate. Serious questions were raised which eventually led to some of the Federalist writings that served as answers to allegations of the Anti-federalists.
No serious student of the Constitution can be without both sides of the story. Some Anti-federalist prophecies have strangely come true. Writings by “Brutus” and “A Federal Farmer”, particularly relating to the “necessary and proper” clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18), view the future under an unrestrained Congress. Although the “necessary and proper” clause was never meant to be a blanket grant of power, over the years, as the intentions of the Founding Fathers have passed further and further from our memories, all three branches of the federal government have assumed powers that simply do not – and never did – exist. As the states have forgotten how to be a check against a Congress run amok, things are getting worse.
This document has been spell checked and proof-read it several times. Spelling and grammatical errors of the period in which these works were written, have for the most part been left intact. Undoubtedly, we may have missed a dropped character, hyphenation may be inadvertently missing, or other minor flaws may appear.
This work is considered public domain to the extent that the information is historic, and intended for non-commercial, informational purposes. In addition, our purposes in making this entire body of work available are several-fold: First, for the education of the American people so that we might better understand our nations history. Secondly, so that we might be able to use this information as a tool of reference as we contact our elected state and federal officials in order that we might right was has been terribly wronged in our great Republic.
These documents, like the Federalist Papers, themselves, cannot be considered all-inclusive. Many other pro and con pieces appeared in newspapers, in the state ratification conventions, in pamphlets, books, and other sources of the time. But these are considered the premier Anti-federalist writings organized somewhat to coincide with the Federalist Papers.
You will note below, that we have also separately posted the works of one ‘Centinel’ out the works of to focus on for reasons that will become important to this project.
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