Question

Read the passages and identify which supports a Federalist position and which supports an Anti-Federalist position. Explain your reasoning.
Passage 1:
I have, in the course of my observation on this constitution, affirmed and endeavored to [show], that it was calculated to abolish entirely the state governments, and to melt down the states into one entire government, for every purpose as well internal and local, as external and national.
Passage 2:
The proposed Constitution, so far from implying an abolition of the State governments, makes them constituent parts of the national sovereignty, by allowing them a direct representation in the Senate, and leaves in their possession certain exclusive and very important portions of sovereign power. This fully corresponds, in every rational import of the terms, with the idea of a federal government.
Scoring:
ï‚· Students should identify the first passage as expressing an Anti-Federalist position because it opposes the Constitution. It claims that the document will abolish the state governments.
ï‚· Students should identify the second passage as expressing a Federalist position because it supports the Constitution. It states that the document leaves a great deal of power to the states by giving them a major rolein the Senate.
2. Why did the framers of the U.S. Constitution include restrictions on federal power? Identify the constitutional principle these restrictions reflect and describe at least one restriction in detail.

Answer 1

Answer:

Passage number 1 is anti-federalist, while passage number 2 is federalist.

The constitution's authors included restrictions on federal power to prevent the president from abusing power, or from having full power as a king.

Explanation:

Federalism defended the integration of the power of the states into a central power, the federal power, which would work together with the states in the management of national policy. The federal government did not intend to concentrate the entire power on the president, but to allow a series of governmental divisions that would prevent the centralization of power, but distribute it in a fair and beneficial way to the people.