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Chapter 7 Section 3
“Debating the Constitution”
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Focus Question: How did those in favor of the
Constitution achieve its ratification?
Federalists Versus Antifederalists
*To ratify, or approve, the Constitution, each state
had to hold a convention. Once nine states
ratified the Constitution, it would go into effect.
The Federalist Position
*Supporters of the new Constitution were called
Federalists because they favored a strong federal,
or national, government.
*James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John
Jay published the Federalist Papers, a series of 85
newspapers essays in support of the Constitution.
*Federalists pointed out the need for a stronger
central government. They believed that if the
Union (US) was to last, the government needed
more power than it had under the Articles,
including the power to enforce laws.
The Antifederalist Position
*Antifederalists, including George Mason and
Patrick Henry, were opponents of ratifying the
Constitution.
*Antifederalists agreed that the Articles were too
weak, but thought the Constitutional Convention
went too far when creating the Constitution.
*Some of their arguments opposing the
Constitution included:
~it weakened state governments (a too-strong
central government like England would
reduce/eliminate state power and individual
freedom)
~it did not provide a Bill of Rights to protect
basic freedoms
~it allowed a President to be reelected again
and again which could result in the same
outcome as having a king
The Ratification Debate
*The Constitution would not go into effect without
the approval of nine states at their ratification
conventions.
*Dec. 1787 to June 1788 – Nine states ratified the
Constitution
*May 1790 – RI became last of the original 13
states to ratify the Constitution.
The Bill of Rights
*After the ratification of the Constitution,
Congress began to prepare for a new government.
*George Washington was elected the first
President and John Adams the first VicePresident.
*During the debate on the Constitution, many
states insisted on a bill of rights. This became one
of the first tasks of the new Congress when they
met in March 1789.
*Knowing the Constitution may need to amended
(altered or added to) in the future, the Framers of
the Constitution provided a way to do this, but
they made it fairly difficult so that changes would
need to be thought out and approved by many.
*1789 – the first Congress pass a series of
amendments. By Dec. 1791 – the required threefourths of the states had ratified 10 amendments
which were called the Bill of Rights.
*The Bill of Rights were intended to protect
people against abuses by the federal government
and were in reaction to the colonists’ experiences
with Britain.
*First Amendment – freedom of religion, speech,
press, assembly, and petition
*Second Amendment – right to bear arms
*Third Amendment – Congress cannot force
citizens to keep soldiers in their homes.
*Fourth Amendment – no unreasonable searches
of their homes and seizure of their property
*Amendments Five through Eight – protect
citizens who are accused of crimes and are
brought to trial.
*Amendments Nine and Ten – limit the powers of
the federal government to those that are granted
in the Constitution.
Review Questions
Why did Antifederalists believe that the
Constitutional Convention had gone too far?
They argued that the meeting was called only to
revise the Articles of Confederation.
Why was the vote in Virginia so important?
Virginia was a large and influential state. If it did
not ratify the Constitution, other states might not,
either, and the union could break apart.
Why did Congress move quickly to pass the Bill of
Rights?
To protect basic liberties.