What sides did the Federalists and the Antifederalists represent in the fight over ratification?
• The Federalists favored a strong national government and supported ratification of the Constitution. • The Antifederalists opposed the Constitution because they feared that a strong national government would revert to tyranny. Accordingly, the Antifederalists favored a decentralized or state-based government. • The debate over ratification centered around a series of essays written in support of the Constitution—The Federalist Papers—which were written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay under the name “Publius.” • The Antifederalists responded with essays from “Brutus” (Robert Yates) and “The Federal Farmer” (Richard Henry Lee). II. Over what key principles did the Federalists and Antifederalists disagree? • The Antifederalists argued that the nation was too large to effectively represent all citizens—which they argued was suitable in small republics, like the states. Madison and other Federalists argued that having a large, indirect democracy would prevent tyranny of the majority by havi
