The Anti-federalist Papers
Dover Publications · Print & ebook · May 21, 2020
A History pick for readers exploring The Anti-federalist Papers.
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- Who it’s for
- These essays, speeches, and letters preserve early arguments against ratifying the Constitution.
- Themes
- Constitutional ratification, Limits on government power, The Bill of Rights
- Genres
- Constitutional Theory, Revolutionary America (1775-1800), Essay Collections
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For younger readers: Fault Lines in the Constitution, What Is the Constitution?, Shh! We're Writing the Constitution
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Between the first proposals of a federal Constitution in 1787 and the document’s 1789 ratification, an intense debate raged among the nation's founding fathers. The Federalist Papers — authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay — favored the adoption of the Constitution, but other early statesmen opposed its ratification.
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The latter group, writing under pseudonyms, amassed a substantial number of influential essays, speeches, and letters that warned of the dangers inherent in a powerful central government. Although never collected in as definitive a form as The Federalist Papers, these statements of opposition appeared in various publications and eventually became known as The Anti-Federalist Papers. Some of their arguments were incorporated into the first ten amendments to the Constitution — the Bill of Rights — but others remained unaddressed. The persuasive and well-argued statements encompassed by this volume continue to provide a valuable and timely perspective on the necessary limits of power.
Ratification’s Opposition
These essays, speeches, and letters preserve early arguments against ratifying the Constitution.
Come here for
- Arguments opposing the Constitution’s ratification
- Warnings about the dangers of a powerful central government
Expect
- Some arguments later appeared in the Bill of Rights
- Other objections to central power remained unaddressed
Where it sits
| Revolutionary America (1775-1800) | 45% |
|---|---|
| Constitutional Theory | 35% |
| Essay Collections | 34% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Revolutionary America (1775-1800)
- Essay Collections
- Political Writing
- American Government
- Authors
- Patrick Henry
- Publisher
- Dover Publications
- Published
- May 21, 2020
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Constitutional ratification · Limits on government power · The Bill of Rights
- Reading lane
- Revolutionary America (1775-1800)