We The People
Or How to Form a More Perfect Union
• Federalists were supporters of the
Constitution
• They wanted to create a federal system
• Antifederalists were opponents of the
Constitution
• They were not against federalism
• But they wanted the power of the states to
be supreme
• Federalism is a system of government
where power is shared between a
federal government and state
governments
• Antifederalists believed the new
Constitution should have included a
bill of rights
• To protect individual rights against a
powerful government
• The Federalists were better organized
than the Antifederalists
• Most of the nation’s newspapers
supported them
• The Federalists’ arguments
for ratification were
summarized in the Federalist
Papers
• The Federalist Papers: a
collection of 85 essays
written by James Madison,
Alexander Hamilton, and
John Jay
• The Constitution begins with
the Preamble
• “We the People…”
• Then follows the main body of the
document: which consists of seven
major parts known as articles
• Added to the
Constitution
were 10
amendments,
known as the
Bill of Rights
• To protect the
rights of the
people
• The Framers of the Constitution
wanted to improve upon the Articles
of Confederation of 1781 which
created a loose association of states
• Therefore, they gave authority to the
people of the entire nation – thus “We
the People…”
• The Constitution gives the powers of
government to three separate groups,
or branches: the legislative branch, the
executive branch, and the judicial
branch
• This is known as the principle of
separation of powers
• In this Federalist Paper, James
Madison explains and defends the
checks and balances system in the
Constitution
• Each branch of government is framed
so that its power checks the power of
the other two branches
• Additionally, each branch of
government is dependent on the
people, who are the source of
legitimate authority
• Madison’s political theory as
expressed in this Federalist Paper
demonstrated the influence of
Montesquieu’s Enlightenment idea
• To separate power is to divide power
• It is to prevent one branch from being allpowerful
• A tyrant can only exist when power is
united in one person
• By dividing power, tyranny is ended