Question

unit 2 week 2 assignment: federalist vs anti - federalist

context: after the us constitution was written in 1787, states had to approve and agree to this form of government. debates took place across the 13 states in state governments. the debates were also presented to the citizens of the united states, who in turn would influence their state representatives. there were many pieces of persuasive pieces written in the newspapers. the federalist papers were written by john jay, alexander hamilton, and james madison. the anti - federalist papers were not written in an organized form and questions remain about who authored the anti - federalist papers.

part 1: federalist papers - primary source document analysis

directions: read the three excerpts below and answer the analysis questions on the next page

federalist paper #1
1 among the most formidable of the obstacles which the new constitution will have to encounter may
2 will be a certain class of men in every state who wish to resist all changes because they may result in
3 these men losing the power and the offices they hold in the state governments. a dangerous
4 ambition more often lurks behind the mask of men who claim to be for the rights of the people, for they
5 more often than not claim to be for the rights of man, but only because they seek to elevate their own
6 position. we should be not for blindly bending the government to the rights of the people, but for the
7 efficiency and firmness of a national government. history will teach us that the first has been found a
8 much more certain road to the introduction of despotism than the second.
9

federalist paper #51
1 but what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? if men were angels,
2 no government would be necessary. if angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal
3 controls on government would be necessary. in framing a government which is to be administered by
4 men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the
5 governed; and oblige it to control itself.

federalist paper #84
1 here, in strictness, without the bill of rights, the people surrender nothing; and as they retain
2 everything they have no need of particular rights outlined. we, the people of the united states to
3 secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
4 constitution for the united states of america... i go further, and affirm that bills of rights, are not
5 only unnecessary in the proposed constitution, but would even be dangerous. they would contain
6 various exceptions to powers not granted. for why declare that things shall not be done which there
7 is no power to do? why, for instance, should it be said that the liberty of the press shall not be
8 restrained, when no power is given to the government by which restrictions may be imposed?
9 furthermore, if some powers are outlined and protected, what can happen to those that arent?
10

analysis questions:

1. according to the federalist papers, are the bill of rights necessary? why or why not? cite evidence from at least one of the federalist papers to support your claim.

Explanation:

The Federalist Papers argued that a Bill of Rights was not necessary. Federalist Paper #84 stated that without the Bill of Rights, the people surrender nothing as they retain everything they have and that the proposed Constitution already secures their liberties. It also questioned why declare things that the government has no power to do.

Answer:

According to the Federalist Papers, the Bill of Rights was not necessary. As seen in Federalist Paper #84, it argued that the people retain all their rights without it and that listing rights could be dangerous as it might imply restrictions on rights not listed.