Can man govern himself, intelligently choosing his own form of government without force? This was (and perhaps still is) the question going on at the time of the proposed Constitution. Like today, there were two very opposing sides, the "Federalists" and the "Anti-Federalists." The latter were skeptical that the republic would fail and the larger states would have more power, or even the presidency could turn into another monarchy. However, the Articles of Confederation did not give the federal government enough power, leaving the prospect of a crumbling government ripe for a take over, possibly by something much worse than the British king. Alexander Hamilton realized this and even though he personally supported a stronger government than the new Constitution allowed he also understood it was about as good as it was going to get. He enlisted James Madison and John Jay to help him write a series of letters to help convince those opposing the Constitution to change their minds. These letters became known as the "Federalist Papers."
Today these papers help us to understand the main principles of why the founding fathers included what they did in our Constitution:
- Why smaller government is better
- The differences between state and federal powers
- The best organization and operation of government and how to prevent another monarchy
Many of the arguments are only relevant to that time period, but many of the truths included apply to today just as much as it did then. These letters were public and available to everyone, so it can be assumed that the delegates voting to ratify the Constitution agreed with these truths. Even the Anti-Federalists were convinced that this was the best way to go.
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