2.4 The Ratification of the Constitution 

• 9/13 state’s needed to ratify the Constitution
• Instead of the state legislature ratifying the Constitution, the men attending were delegates elected by their neighbors to represent their interests, meaning they were not being asked to relinquish their power; in fact, they were being asked to place limits upon the power of their state legislators, whom they may not have elected in the first place.
• Many wanted a bill of rights in the constitution before they would agree to ratify, the promise that a bill of rights would be drafted persuaded many delegates to support ratification
• Small states (Delaware) = Pro-Constitution because equal representation in the Senate would give them a degree of equality with the larger states, & a strong national gov with an army could better defend than state militias
• Larger states = Anti-Constitution because they didn’t believe they need the federal gov to defend them and disliked paying tax money to support a new gov, supporters of the Constitution feared NY, Massachusetts, PA, & Virginia would refuse to ratify

Federalist V Anti-Federalist

• Federalists were mostly elite members of society, landowners, businessmen, and former commanders, they believed a potent gov would be better for both national defense and economic growth. A national currency would make transactions easier, and the federal gov having the power to place tariffs and regulate trade would protect merchants from foreign competition. Support for the Federalists was solid in New England
• Anti-Fed feared the power of the national gov & believed state legislatures could better protect their freedoms. People feared that the centralization of power would lead to a political aristocracy, to the detriment of state sovereignty and individual liberty.
• Anti-Fed support was strong in the South because, fears the central gov would levy taxes on farmers and planters, who lacked the hard currency needed to pay up, many also believed that the tarrifs Congress imposed on foreign imports which would make American agricultural products less welcome in Europe & European colonies
• Some Anti-Fed’s were against the diversity of religion tolerated by the Constitution
• Pennsylvania & Massachusetts voted in favor of the Constitution, New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify in the summer of 1788
• Virginia, NY, Rhode Island, and NC, were the four statres outside the newly formed union, James Madison & George Wahsington’s support changed the minds of many
• In NY there was considerable opposition, Hamilton, Madison, and John Jay wrote a series of essays beginning in 1787 arguing for the federal gov and the support of the constitution (The Federalist Papers)
• FED 51: No need to fear the fed gov being too powerful bc, power is divied between state and country, and the divison of authority within the fed gov is in 3 branches with checks and balances
• FED 10: Americans need not to fear the power of factions or special interests, bc the republic was too big and the interests of its people too diverse to allow the developmen tof large powerful political parties (ironic)