... where called Anti-Federalist. The Anti-Federalist feared that with the adoption of a centralized national government the rights of individuals would diminish and the newly won powers of the 13 American States would be usurped. The essential argument of the Anti-Federalist was that the building of a large centralized government would rob the people of there newly found liberty. They ... representatives where directly elected and served closer to their constituents would result in a system of greater accountability and preservation of personal freedoms. They warned against the devices of J...

• Word Count: 1372
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... federal government illustrates the broader argument of federalism versus republicanism, and has continued as an American economic disagreement many years after the American Revolution. With the United States" debt only growing after the Revolutionary War, a plan was needed to alleviate the newly created U.S. of their serious economic problems. Alexander Hamilton, a passionate Federalist, proposed to Congress in January 1790 that the federal government assume all ... of the state debts, therefore allowing the money to be paid back more efficiently and quickly. Hamilton's plan is ... ...

• Word Count: 1518
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that it would act as a check on other branches. In addition, separation of the branches was intended to ensure judicial independence from political pressures. (Barone and Cohen, 54) Statesman Alexander Hamilton argued in The Federalist papers that "the judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power."(Bernotas, 113) Because the judiciary lacked the lawmaking or enforcement powers ... its authority would rest solely on the quality of its judgments. The judicial branch has indeed proved to be the least powerful branch as Hamilton predicted, but it has played a...

• Word Count: 2682
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... understand the decline of the party system one must first understand the development and the positive attributes of the early American party system. Party competition first emerged, when James Madison and Thomas Jefferson sought to create a political opposition to Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and the Federalists. Madison who originally had been the leading federalist in the country became the leader ... of a more antifederalist Jeffersonian Republican party who embraced parties and factions in order to protect and preserve the future of federalism and the separation of powers. He feare...

• Word Count: 1647
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The American colonists had fought a bitter war in order to achieve their independence from an oppressive British government. Therefore, the Articles of Confederation were drafted in order to ensure that a strong central ... are a strong retort to the objections voiced against the fresh new Constitution. They, too, were published in the New York Times under a pen name-- Publius-- and appeared between 1787 and1788. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay wrote a series of 85 essays that appeared in New York newspapers. In these essays, they argued that the powers of the national government...

• Word Count: 681
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate