FEDERALISTS OR ANTI-FEDERALISTS
During the 1780's the country was divided between the supporters
of a new more highly centralized government, Federalists, and
the friends of the existing loose Confederation, Anti-Federalists.
Some of these state-rights men were opposed to change because
they did not wish to lose the authority and prestige they enjoyed
in the existing state governments. Such men preferred local and
individual liberties to centralization. On the other hand, the
supporters of a new central government valued national freedom
and efficiency more than individual or local liberties.
For each of the following, decide if the individual was a Federalist,
and Anti-Federalist, or undecided. After each biography list
the reasons for your selection.
1. Thomas Abraham Clark, the son of a prominent Philadelphia
lawyer, was born to extreme wealth. He was educated at home by
private tutors, and entered local politics at a very early age.
He soon rose to the top of his state in politics. Having traveled
extensively in Europe, he is obsessed with the tyranny of European
governments. He has corresponded with Samuel Adams, Richard Henry
Lee, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson. He is convinced that
a strong government headed by a king is and has been, the curse
of mankind throughout history. Under the Articles of Confederation,
Thomas' law practice has prospered, but he is concerned over the
inflated value of some colonial currency.
Federalist Anti-Federalist Undecided
Reasons for your choice:
2. Josiah Bartlett was born the son of a farmer. He has little
formal schooling, but has read extensively. At twelve, Josiah
left home to serve an apprenticeship as a cooper. By the age
of eighteen, Josiah set out to make his mark in his state. Working
as an overseer on small plantations, he soon saved enough money
to begin buying land of his own and by 1775 he owned half the
land in his state. Rather than operating large scale and exclusively
slave plantations, Josiah invested in smaller farms operated by
indentured servants. He ships a great deal of cotton to Europe.
His economic interests are threatened not only be unstable currency,
but by high tariffs and taxes imposed by neighboring states.
Federalist Anti-Federalist Undecided
Reasons for your choice:
3. Edward Heyward is a member of the landed aristocracy of Georgia.
His substantial wealth came from the inheritance of large tracts
of land. Heyward, like most of the people in his state, is extremely
provincial in his outlook, having had little contact with foreigners
outside his state, other than slave traders. His lack on contact
with the outside world and his relative wealth have convinced
Edward that things have gone splendidly after independence from
Britain. His consumers are the Indian tribes of western Georgia.
They are well organized and ably led. Since he has considerable
money invested in western land, he would like to see a united
effort against the Indians.
Federalist Anti-Federalist Undecided
Reasons for your choice:
4. Patrick O'Neil was born in Hanover County, Virginia. He was
largely self-educated. From 1751 until 1760 he was an unsuccessful
storekeeper and farmer. Notoriously indifferent to his private
fortune and ineffectual in his own business, he has made the public
his main concern. He is a great orator and by some is called
the "voice of the common man." During the Revolution
he served in the House of Burgesses and as governor of Virginia.
He was a member of the radical faction which opposed the king
before the revolution, and on a number of occasions swore he would
give up his life before his freedom. He has always thought of
himself as a common man. He feels the rights of the people must
be protected from all privileged classes, and he has always been
a champion of popular rights.
Federalist Anti-Federalist Undecided
Reasons for your choice:
5. Tom McKean, like other lads of sixteen, ran away from home
in 1775 to serve in the Continental Army. He was with Washington's
troops at Valley Forge. A slight limp- he lost two toes from
frostbite - serves to remind him of that long, hard winter. But
his time in the hospital changed his life. An officer in the
next bed, in more peaceful times a professor of English, taught
Tom to read, as a means of whiling away the time. Tom was an
apt pupil. His first primer was the only book the professor had
with him: Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Tom continued
his own education when he was mustered out of the army. In the
last ten years he has traveled and spent time in every state,
making his living as a journalist. He is well aware of the problems
facing the American colonies. He sees the "Spanish-Indian
Conspiracy" as a great threat to American growth, and the
revolt of Daniel Shays as the beginning of the end for stable
government.
Federalist Anti-Federalist Undecided
Reasons for your choice:
6. Charles Francis Whipple was born to wealth in the colony of
Massachusetts. During the war years his family sent him to England
to be educated in the ministry. After his return from his studies
abroad, Charles decided that the economic survival of his state
depends upon the acquisition of more land, and that political
survival depends upon a strong central government to protect Whipple
and his class from the increasing restlessness of the masses.
Charles is forever preaching that man's instincts can never be
trusted, that only strong government offers security. He feels
that property rights must be protected and that the "masses"
must be kept in their place. After seeing the results of Shays
rebellion, he feels the common people should have little or no
voice in government.
Federalist Anti-Federalist Undecided
Reasons for your choice:
7. Clymer Fitzsimmons is a frontiersman from the north west.
He lives in a sparsely populated area. His father and mother
were killed by the Indians during Pontiac's Rebellion. He has
little formal education, but he has no equal in the woods. He
was wounded at the Battle of Saratoga, and still carries an English
"ball" in his right lung. He was captured later in
the war and spent two years as a British prisoner. He is sure
that the British government intends to suppress the colonies newly
won independence. He believes in a well armed population and
a large, well-organized militia. Clymer has been little affected
by the Articles of Confederation and he is basically satisfied
with the present economic situation. He is suspicious of those
colonial gentlemen of wealth and English custom. He resents the
present state government because he is not allowed to vote, since
he owns no property.
Federalist Anti-Federalist Undecided
Reasons for your choice: