Constitutionally Speaking

In this episode of Constitutionally Speaking, Jay and Luke continue their discussion of the Anti-Federalists. One of the chief objections of the opponents of the Constitution was that it threatened to destroy republican government. The Anti-Federalists believed that the branches of the proposed system did not rely sufficiently on the people, but instead shifted power to the wealthy. Many of them believed that this was precisely the motivation of the Framers, to undo the Revolution of 1776 and replace it with a “higher toned” form of government. This Anti-Federal anxiety informed much of their efforts against the Constitution, and as Luke points out, also helps explain their advocacy for a Bill of Rights.