Debating About the CONSTITUTION—Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists [AP Government Review]

Summary

This video explores the ideological clashes between Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. It delves into key debates such as majority rule vs. minority rights, representation (highlighting the Virginia and New Jersey Plans), legislative vs. executive power, and the balance between state and national power. It also discusses the contentious issue of slavery's role in representation and the eventual 'three-fifths compromise.' The narrative culminates with the struggle for ratification and the Anti-Federalists' demand for a Bill of Rights, which the Federalists initially opposed but eventually conceded, leading to the Constitution's adoption in 1788.

Takeaways

• 🏛️ The Federalists and Anti-Federalists debated over the structure of the U.S. Constitution, with Federalists favoring a strong central government and Anti-Federalists advocating for stronger state governments.
• 🗳️ The debate on majority rule versus minority rights was central, with concerns about how to protect minority interests in a majority-rule system, leading to James Madison's proposal of separation of powers.
• 🌐 The Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan represented the争执 over representation in the new government, with the former suggesting proportional representation and the latter equal representation for all states.
• 🤝 The Great Compromise led to a bicameral legislature, with the Senate representing equal state representation and the House of Representatives based on population.
• ⚖️ The Constitutional Convention debated the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches, eventually granting the president significant powers, including the veto, but also allowing Congress to override with a two-thirds majority.
• 🔑 The Electoral College was devised as a method for electing the president, aiming to prevent too close a tie between the executive and legislative branches.
• 🏗️ Federalism was established as a solution to balance state and national power, with the Tenth Amendment reserving powers not delegated to the federal government to the states.
• 🗣️ The Supremacy Clause established that federal law supersedes state law, thereby protecting the national government's authority.
• 🔗 The three-fifths compromise was a contentious agreement to count slaves as three-fifths of a person for purposes of representation and taxation.
• 📜 Anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights to protect civil liberties, which was initially resisted by Federalists but eventually led to the first ten amendments of the Constitution.
• 🎉 After much debate and compromise, the Constitution was ratified in June 1788, establishing a new framework for the United States government.

Q & A

Who were the main Federalists supporting a more powerful central government?

The main Federalists supporting a more powerful central government included Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington, and John Adams.

What did the anti-federalists advocate for?

The anti-federalists advocated for stronger state governments at the expense of the national government.

What was the central problem regarding majority rule and minority rights during the Constitutional Convention?

The central problem was how to protect minority rights in a system with majority rule, ensuring that no faction, whether majority or minority, could impose tyranny over the others.

How did James Madison propose to solve the issue of factions in government?

James Madison proposed the separation of powers in the new government, both nationally among the three branches and between national and state governments, to set the power of factions against one another and prevent tyranny.

What were the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan?

The Virginia Plan proposed that Congress should assign representation in proportion to a state's population, favoring larger states, while the New Jersey Plan proposed equal representation for each state, favoring smaller states.

What was the Great Compromise regarding the structure of Congress?

The Great Compromise suggested splitting the new Congress into two houses: the Senate, where every state would get two senators, and the House of Representatives, where representation would be determined by the population of each state.

How was the power of the president versus Congress debated during the Constitutional Convention?

The debate centered on how much power the president should have versus Congress. The president was given significant power, including the veto, but this was balanced by Congress's ability to override a veto with a two-thirds vote.

How was the president originally intended to be elected?

The president was to be elected by the Electoral College, where each state chose a number of electors equal to its representatives and senators.

What is federalism and how does it relate to the division of power in the U.S. Constitution?

Federalism is the division of power between the national government and state governments. The Tenth Amendment protects the reserved powers of the states, while the Supremacy Clause establishes that federal law supersedes state law.

What was the three-fifths compromise and why was it significant?

The three-fifths compromise was an agreement to count three-fifths of the slave population for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives. It was significant as it was a contentious compromise between slave and non-slave states that allowed the ratification of the Constitution.

Why were the anti-federalists concerned about ratifying the Constitution?

The anti-federalists were concerned about the potential tyranny of the federal government and the lack of civil liberties protections in the Constitution, such as freedom of speech and press.

How did the Federalists respond to the anti-federalists' demand for a bill of rights?

Initially, Federalists argued against a bill of rights, stating that the Constitution did not grant the federal government the power to restrict these rights. However, they eventually agreed to add a bill of rights, which became the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ Debates at the Constitutional Convention

This paragraph discusses the philosophical differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the Constitutional Convention. The Federalists, who included figures like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, advocated for a strong central government, while the Anti-Federalists, including Patrick Henry, preferred stronger state governments. The debate centered on five main issues: majority rule versus minority rights, representation in government, legislative versus executive power, state versus national power, and the contentious issue of slavery. James Madison, in Federalist No. 10, warned about the dangers of factions and proposed the separation of powers as a solution. The Great Compromise and the Electoral College were also discussed as mechanisms to balance power between large and small states, and to elect the president, respectively.

05:01

🗳️ The Electoral College and Federalism

The second paragraph delves into the Electoral College system, which was proposed as a means to elect the president without directly tying the executive branch to the legislative branch. It explains how electors are chosen by each state and how this system was seen as a compromise that pleased most delegates. The concept of federalism is also explored, detailing how power is divided between the national government and state governments, with the Tenth Amendment reserving powers not delegated to the federal government for the states. The paragraph also touches on the Supremacy Clause, which establishes the federal government's laws as supreme over state laws. Additionally, it discusses the妥协 reached regarding slave states and non-slave states, known as the three-fifths compromise, which counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes.

10:02

📜 Ratification and the Bill of Rights

The final paragraph covers the challenges faced during the ratification process of the Constitution. Anti-Federalists were concerned about the potential tyranny of the federal government and the lack of civil liberties protection in the Constitution. They demanded a Bill of Rights, which was initially opposed by Federalists but eventually agreed upon. The paragraph highlights the persuasive role of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, which helped sway public opinion in favor of the Constitution. The narrative concludes with the ratification of the Constitution in June 1788 and a call to action for viewers to engage with the content by subscribing, liking, and commenting.

Keywords

💡Federalists

The Federalists were a group of individuals who supported a strong central government in the United States, as opposed to the state governments. They believed that a more powerful central authority was necessary for the effective functioning of the nation. Key figures among the Federalists included Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington, and John Adams. The video discusses how the Federalists' stance on a powerful central government was a central theme in the Constitutional Convention debates.

💡Anti-Federalists

Anti-Federalists were those who opposed the idea of a strong central government, advocating instead for more power to be retained by the individual states. They feared that a powerful central government could lead to tyranny. Patrick Henry and George Mason were notable Anti-Federalists. The video highlights the conflict between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists over the balance of power between the national government and the states.

💡Majority Rule

Majority rule refers to the principle that decisions are made by whichever group has the most votes. In the context of the video, the concern was how to protect minority rights within a system that operates on majority rule. The video explains that the Federalists and Anti-Federalists debated how to safeguard minority rights from the potential tyranny of the majority.

💡Minority Rights

Minority rights pertain to the protection of the interests of smaller groups within a society, especially when they are in the numerical minority. The video discusses the challenge of safeguarding minority rights in a democratic system where decisions are often made by the majority. It was a key issue in the Constitutional Convention, as the framers sought to prevent the majority from oppressing the minority.

💡Separation of Powers

Separation of powers is a political doctrine that suggests that governmental power should be divided into distinct branches to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. The video illustrates how James Madison, in Federalist No. 10, proposed the separation of powers as a solution to prevent tyranny and protect minority rights by setting up a system of checks and balances.

💡Virginia Plan

The Virginia Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States government that suggested representation in Congress should be proportional to a state's population. This plan was favored by larger states and is mentioned in the video as one of the proposals that fueled the debate over representation in the new government.

💡New Jersey Plan

The New Jersey Plan was an alternative proposal to the Virginia Plan, advocating for equal representation of each state in the new Congress, regardless of population size. This plan was favored by smaller states and is discussed in the video as a point of contention between large and small states.

💡Great Compromise

The Great Compromise was a solution reached during the Constitutional Convention that led to the creation of a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate, with equal representation for each state, and the House of Representatives, with representation based on population. The video explains how this compromise addressed the争执 between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.

💡Legislative Power

Legislative power refers to the authority to make laws. In the video, the debate over legislative power versus executive power is highlighted, focusing on the balance of authority between Congress and the President. The framers of the Constitution had to decide how much power each branch should have in the new government.

💡Executive Power

Executive power is the authority to enforce laws and administer government. The video discusses the concerns of the Constitutional Convention delegates regarding the concentration of executive power in a single president, as they sought to avoid the pitfalls of monarchy. The eventual agreement on a single executive with a system of checks and balances, including the presidential veto, is explained.

💡Electoral College

The Electoral College is the process by which the President of the United States is elected. As described in the video, it involves each state appointing a number of electors equal to its representation in Congress, who then vote for the President. The video mentions the Electoral College as a compromise that resolved debates over how the President should be elected.

💡Federalism

Federalism is the political concept where power is divided between a central government and individual state governments. The video explains how federalism, as enshrined in the Constitution, was a solution to the争执over state versus national power, with the Tenth Amendment protecting the powers reserved for the states.

💡Three-Fifths Compromise

The Three-Fifths Compromise was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention that counted three-fifths of the slave population for purposes of taxation and representation. This compromise is discussed in the video as a contentious solution to the争执over how slave populations would be counted and represented in the new government.

💡Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, which保障了公民的一系列基本权利. The video discusses how the Anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights to protect civil liberties, and how the Federalists eventually agreed to its inclusion to secure ratification of the Constitution.

Highlights

Introduction to the debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists during the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.

Federalists supported a powerful central government, while Anti-Federalists favored stronger state governments.

Key Federalist figures included Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington, and John Adams.

Key Anti-Federalist figures included Patrick Henry and George Mason.

First debate: Majority rule versus minority rights in a democratic system.

James Madison's concerns about factions and the potential for tyranny, as expressed in Federalist No. 10.

Solution to factionalism: Separation of powers between national and state governments.

Second debate: Representation in the new government, with disputes between large and small states.

The Virginia Plan proposed proportional representation based on population.

The New Jersey Plan proposed equal representation for all states.

The Great Compromise: Creation of a bicameral Congress with the Senate and House of Representatives.

Third debate: Legislative power versus executive power, and the role of the president.

Concerns about a single executive resembling monarchy and the eventual agreement on a presidential system.

Presidential powers, including the veto, and the congressional power to override vetoes.

Fourth debate: State power versus national power, leading to the concept of federalism.

The Tenth Amendment and the concept of reserved powers for the states.

Fifth debate: Slave states versus non-slave states and the contentious issue of slavery.

The Three-Fifths Compromise regarding the counting of slaves for representation purposes.

Challenges in ratification of the Constitution by the thirteen states.

Anti-Federalist concerns about potential tyranny from the federal government and the lack of civil liberties protection.

The Federalist Papers, a series of essays by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, aimed at persuading the public.

Agreement to add a Bill of Rights to address Anti-Federalist concerns.

Ratification of the Constitution in June 1788, marking the establishment of the new government.

Transcripts

hello and welcome back - hi my sister US

government edition in the last video we

talked about the central philosophies

guiding the founders as they wrote the

Constitution and although there was a

broad agreement about these philosophies

among the delegates when they came to

actually writing the Constitution that

enshrined these philosophies there was a

lot of division and the main contenders

in this debate were the Federalists and

the anti-federalists I'm gonna tell you

who they were and what they were

fighting about so let's get to it okay

so the Federalists and the

anti-federalists who were they and what

did they stand for the Federalists in

general supported a more vigorous and

powerful central government at the

expense of the state governments on the

Federalists roster were guys like

Alexander Hamilton James Madison George

Washington and John Adams

anti-federalists on the other hand

supported stronger state governments at

the expense of the national government

on the anti-federalists roster where

guys like Patrick Henry and George Mason

and so with both sides lined up they

basically found about five categories of

ideas and we'll go through each in turn

the first point is debate among these

groups was majority rule versus minority

rights and when I say minority I don't

mean like an ethnic minority I just mean

that if they're like a hundred people in

a room and 60 move off to this side and

40 move off to this side and the 60 of

the majority and the 40 of the minority

so a central problem that these folks

thought about was how to protect

minority rights in a system with a

majority ruled for example in those days

the economic majority were the poor and

middle class farmers and landowners well

the economic minority were those who had

great wealth and if those with low

incomes found themselves in power then

wouldn't it be tempting for them to

impose onerous taxes upon the wealthy

minority or take another example how

could the agricultural majority be

restrained from enacting retributive

tariffs on the manufacturing minority

and this was the problem as James

Madison wrote in Federalist number 10 of

factions in Madison's terms a faction

was a group of people motivated to

secure their own interests at the

expense of the common good and he warned

that if a faction was able to gain power

than it could impose the same kind of

tyranny over the American people that

they had just fought to throw off and he

further argued that the majority could

be dangerous as a faction and the

minority could be dangerous as a faction

if the majority faction had power then

it would always silence the

voice of the minority faction and if the

minority had too much power than they

could wield tyranny in the form of veto

power like they did in the Articles of

Confederation and Madison's solution to

this was the separation of powers in the

new government not only would power be

separated nationally in the three

branches of government but power would

be further divided between national and

state governments and by setting the

power of factions against one another in

this way the new constitution would

ensure that no faction could tyrannize

the others and believe it or not this

solution actually pleased both the

anti-federalists and the Federalists

okay the second issue that these groups

fought about was representation in the

new government and this was basically a

fight between large states and small

states you see when the Articles of

Confederation ruled the land every state

had one vote and that didn't feel very

fair especially to the larger states and

so the Federalists and the

anti-federalists came up with their own

respective plans for how representation

would work in the new government they

were called the Virginia Plan and the

New Jersey Plan the Virginia plan

proposed that Congress should assign

representation in proportion to a

state's population and in that way big

states like Virginia would have a

disproportionate voice in the making of

laws the New Jersey plan on the other

hand proposed that each state should

have equal representation and in that

way small states like Rhode Island would

have a disproportionately large voice in

the making of laws and as you can

imagine both sides dug in their heels

and it looked like this might break the

whole process it was that important of a

problem to solve and when all seemed

lost in this respect it was the

delegates from Connecticut who came up

with what was called the great

compromise what they proposed was that

the new Congress would be split into two

houses the Senate and the House of

Representatives in the Senate every

state would get two senators therefore

upholding the desires of the small

states and in the House representation

will be determined by the population of

each state therefore upholding the

desires of the larger states the third

argument at the convention was over

legislative power versus executive power

which is to say how much power would the

president have versus how much power

would Congress have you should know that

many of the delegates rejected the idea

of a single person acting as president

because to them that smelled too much

like monarchy in fact one of the

delegates Edmund Randolph proposed a

three-person executive because in his

words a single president would be the

quote fetus

of monarchy even so the delegates

eventually agreed to give the power to

one person in the executive office

because they argued that Congress is by

nature a large body and therefore also

by nature very slow moving and so

especially in times of crisis they

realized that we needed a nimbler

decision-making process and that could

only be achieved by a single executive

so they invested the president with

power but at the same time they

restrained presidential power of the

most significant power they gave to the

president was the power of veto by which

the president can reject any law passed

by Congress on the other hand that power

was restrained by giving Congress the

power to override the President's veto

by a two-thirds vote but there was

another sub debate over the president

and that was how would the president be

elected we came pretty close to having a

system just like Britain's in which the

Prime Minister is elected by Parliament

the delegates fear that that arrangement

would tie the executive and the

legislative branches together too

tightly so they propose that the

executive will be elected by something

called the Electoral College and the

basic version of the Electoral College

is this that every time a presidential

election came up every four years that

each state would choose a number of

electors that was equal to the number of

their representatives and their senators

and how were these electors to be chosen

well they left that decision up to the

individual states now the system of the

Electoral College has come under fire in

the last few decades but I'm not going

to take that argument up here we'll save

that for another time all we need to say

at this time is that during the

convention the Electoral College

proposal pleased most of the delegates

and therefore calm to the argument the

fourth argument at the convention was

over state power versus national power

now I've already mentioned the solution

to this conundrum earlier but I didn't

name it then the solution for who got

the power in the new government was

called federalism and federalism just

means that the power to govern was

divided between the national government

and the state government and I got a

hold of the set of videos on federalism

I'll link them below if you want to know

more but all you need to know now is

that the power given to state

governments is protected by the Tenth

Amendment which says the following the

powers not delegated to the United

States by the Constitution nor

prohibited by it to the states are

reserved to the States respectively or

to the people now this is what we call

reserved powers which is to say that if

the Constitution doesn't explicitly give

a certain power to the national

government that power then belongs to

the state and then that way the Tenth

Amendment provide

limits for national power but it wasn't

only the states power that was protected

by the Constitution the national

governments power was protected as well

we find this in what's called the

Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and

article six and it says that any law

passed by the federal government is the

supreme law of the land and therefore

Trump's any state law that contradicts

it and the fifth major debate at the

Constitutional Convention was between

slave states and non slave states and as

you can imagine this was a nearly

insurmountable issue of the southern

slave states refused to agree to any

measure that would limit slavery and the

northern non slave states didn't like

that insistence on slavery but they also

didn't want to lose everything they had

worked for in the Constitutional

Convention by offending unnecessarily

all the southerners maybe the most

contentious argument between these two

entities was how the slave population

will work into representation in the new

Congress southern states of course

wanted all the slaves to be counted in

terms of population because that meant

more seats in the House of

Representatives the northerners of

course objected and said no the slaves

should not be counted as population

because you southerners don't count them

as people in any other area of life so

why should they give you more seats in

the House of Representatives they ended

up coming up with a compromise which

became known as the three-fifths

compromise basically what that meant is

they would count up all the slaves in

the southern population and take

three-fifths of that number for purposes

of representation now that arrangement

didn't make either side completely happy

but it was an arrangement that the

southerners could live with in exchange

for ratifying the Constitution okay so

those are the major arguments and the

major compromises that occurred during

the Constitutional Convention and once

they had it all hammered out and they

actually wrote the Constitution it was

up to the thirteen states to ratify it

now out of thirteen states only nine

needed to give it the thumbs up in order

for it to be our new governing document

but there were problems already brewing

Rhode Island for example sent no

delegates to the Constitutional

Convention and refused to appoint a

ratifying committee state of New York

seemed entirely against ratification

from the outset and other states were

pretty well split right down the middle

so it's going to be a difficult road to

ratification let's see what happened

when it came to ratification the

anti-federalists were worried about the

federal government becoming too

tyrannical they were being asked to give

up some of their state-level

governmental power to the national

government and that made some of them a

little twitchy but the main reservation

of the anti-federalists was the

constitutional lack of any protections

for civil liberty

they argued that a bill of rights should

be included in the Constitution to

protect things like freedom of the press

and freedom of speech but that request

was pretty much rejected by the federal

it's for several reasons after all they

argued the Constitution doesn't give the

federal government the right to restrict

any of those rights anyway so we don't

need to spell them out plus if you start

writing down all the rights that are

going to be protected you're sure to

leave some of them out so let's just not

write them down and the Federalists had

good reason for arguing this way because

state constitutions already protected

freedom of speech and freedom of press

and the rest even so the

anti-federalists dug in their heels and

said they would not ratify without a

bill of rights but the Federalists had

the advantage in nearly every way I mean

first of all it was the Federalists who

wrote the Constitution and they were

really the only ones who were offering a

solution to all the problems that were

occurring on to the Articles of

Confederation

additionally the Federalists had the

expansive minds and furious pens of

Alexander Hamilton James Madison and

John J and it was those three men who

wrote a series of essays later known as

the Federalist Papers in which they

explained the details of the new

constitution point by point and showing

how the Constitution solved all the

really big problems facing the nation

now these essays were aimed at a New

York audience but they were published

widely and convinced many reluctant

souls around the nation and in addition

the Federalists did indeed agree to add

a bill of rights which ended up being

the first ten amendments to the

Constitution and this called

anti-federalists fears that the new

federal government would overstep its

bounds and as it turns out the

Federalists won that debate and not

without much struggle the Constitution

was ratified in June of 1788 and baby

who we got ourselves a new constitution

my the only one who wants to high-five a

bald eagle right now all right thanks

for watching now if I got everything I

wanted in this world you would subscribe

to this channel and like this video and

comment below but it could be that I

have to compromise in the spirit of the

Constitutional Convention so I'll take

whatever you give and I leave that

decision up to you I will see you in the

next video