Federalist Paper 15

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Federalist Paper #15

The Federlists and Anti-Federlists both saw a need for change in the government. The

only poblem with this is that the two had almost opposite ideas although they realized

the the

Articles of Confederation didn't have enough power. The main obstacle was how much power

should the new government have. The Federalist form of government provided the best

government of the two.

Alexander Hamilton was unsatisfied with the Articles of Confederation. He feels that the

U.S has reached the "last stage of humiliation," due to a lac of a military, large debts, a lack of

money, lack of respect by foreign powers, territories in the possession of a foreign power,

inability to navigate the Mississippi River, lack of commerce, unavailability of credit, and

decrease in property value. Hamilton urges for these reasons the country must stand for dignity,

reputation, tranquility, and safety. Hamilton believed government was created because groups of

men act with greater intelligence than individuals alone because there reputation less affected.

The Anti-Federalists all had their own opinions on the Constitution but there were a few

ideas that most of them shared. They believed that the government created by the Constitution

was too strong. Another shared idea was that the Constitution didn't establish a federal

government. They felt that it created a national government that would eventually destroy the

sovereignty of the states. The Anti-Federalists feared what Congress could do with a combination

of control over the army, the judicial powers, and taxations. There was also

no clause reserving

powers, which led to the fear of a Congress that could become sovereign

and use the army to

collect taxes. The judges of the supreme court could mold the government to how they wish since

the meaning of the Constitution was defined be the supreme court.

The Anti-Federalists were hesitant to grant power because they didn't want a government

similar to the one they just expelled. They thought the Constitution granted to much power and it

did not restrain the yielding of it. The Anti-Federalists concluded that to vest total power in a

national government was dangerous and unnecessary. Another great fear of the Anti-Federalists

was that all the power was going to be given the upper class. If only the rich were chosen

to

Congress there would be a struggle for honor, wealth, and power resulting in the oppression

of the

poor. The Anti-Federalists