• First, you may find the table “Summary of Opposed Arguments in Federalist and Anti-Federalist Writings” within the opening pages of Ketcham’s edition of The Anti-Federalist Papers helpful.
• Second, you may draw from secondary sources such as KHB, Johnson and others in your discussion board post, but do not rely on them for your analysis; your posts should reflect a personal understanding of the primary documents (the individual Fed/Anti-Fed papers, Constitution). Plan to include some quotations from these documents in your post.
• Third, remember to use Author-Date (parenthetical) citation style. Include page numbers in all citations of quoted material or specific references to passages from a document. You do not need a title page for the DB post, but do include a one-line title above your post. Please single-space the post for easier reading by classmates. Do not use footnotes.

This week we turn to the foremost work of American political thought, the Federalist Papers were written to explain and defend the newly proposed Constitution of the United States, including the design, powers and election/appointment processes of three distinct branches of government, and the relationship of the states to the national government. In turn, the Anti-Federalist Papers were written to challenge what opponents of the Constitution viewed as an over-reach of national power.

.

These competing arguments will be your ultimate focus for the week; however, it is important to note that the debate over constitutional ratification came only after months of deliberation over constitutional development at the Pennsylvania Convention, including heated debates over legislative design and apportionment, the presidential election process, state-national power arrangements, and interstate relations. Compromises such as the Great Compromise over legislative design and apportionment and the Three-Fifths Compromise had already been hammered out. The inclusion of a Bill of Rights was still up for debate. Note that the resulting U.S. Constitution included seven articles:

Article 1: Legislative Branch

Article 2: Executive Branch

Article 3: Judicial Branch

Article 4: Interstate Relations

Article 5: Amendment Process

Article 6: National Supremacy

Article 7: Ratification

.

Note the supremacy of the legislative branch symbolically recognized in its prioritization in Article 1, and, in contrast, the “least dangerous branch”–the judicial branch–a distant third. If you have not read the U.S. Constitution before, now is the time as we examine the arguments used to defend and oppose its merit.

.

A turn to the ratification debate also requires a calibration of nomenclature, as it is at this time that the labels “Federalist” and “Anti-Federalist” emerge. As KHB (1991) note, the labels are ironic and were politically motivated, beginning with the Constitution’s supporters claiming the “Federalist” label even as they promoted a strong national government that seemed more consistent with a unitary system than with the common understanding of a federal system as a league of states. This claim jump left the Constitution’s opponents wearing the unlikely label of “Anti-Federalist” despite the group’s principled defense of states’ rights. Please keep these label ironies in mind as you navigate the arguments made by representatives of opposing perspectives.

.

All this considered, I recommend getting an early start on this week’s reading:

.

Reading & Study (Note: Remember the value of highlighting key points/passages!)

Kelly et al.: chs. 6–7, U.S. Constitution (Appendix)

Ketcham: Henry 6/5/88, Centinel 1, Pennsylvania Minority, Brutus 1, Brutus XI, XII, XV

Johnson: Part 2 (pp. 177–211)

Rossiter: Introduction, Nos. 1, 10, 17, 51, 78 (note that this is the Federalist Papers text with an intro by Kessler)

Bible Readings: James 1: 19-26

1 presentation: “Reading The Federalist Papers” (Purvis 2018)

Assignments

The Federalist Debate

Your assignment for this week is first to “make sense” of these primary documents, written in a linguistic style that you may find challenging. This may require two or three passes through each document to draw out key points; however, I am confident that you will adjust to the writing styles after a few attempts and then really come to enjoy them. For best “results” please read the Rossiter introduction and the KHB and Johnson chapters before embarking.

Your second assignment is to select at least two of these primary documents and present an analysis via a course discussion forum. Please be sure to follow instructions.