Mercy Otis Warren: Constitution Would “Terminate in the Most Uncontrolled Despotism”
By: TJ Martinell Mercy Otis Warren came down firmly opposed to ratification of the Constitution, and her anonymously written pamphlet titled “Observations on the new Constitution, and on the Federal ...
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Federal Farmer Makes his Case for the Tenth Amendment
By: TJ Martinell Given the power various officers in the federal government would wield, the Federal Farmer believed that there needed to be a better mechanism to appoint them and remove ...
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Federal Farmer: Will the Judiciary Preserve or Destroy Liberty?
By: TJ Martinell While many anti-federalists, including Patrick Henry, regarded the judicial branch of the federal government under the proposed U.S. Constitution with deep suspicion, the Federal Farmer took a more ...
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Federal Farmer: Politicians and Bureaucrats must be “Recallable”
By: TJ Martinell Given the power various officers in the federal government would wield, the Federal Farmer believed that there needed to be a better mechanism to appoint them and remove ...
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Federal Farmer: Representation Isn’t Sufficient
By: TJ Martinell When it was ratified, the U.S. Constitution set a cap on the number of representatives at no more than one per 30,000 persons. In his seventh letter dated Dec. ...
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Federal Farmer: Amendments are Essential and Necessary
By: TJ Martinell In his sixth letter dated Dec. 25, 1787, the Federal Farmer wrote of the “essential and necessary” inclusion of meaningful amendments to the Constitution prior to its ratification. Though ...
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The Federal Farmer: The Constitution Would Lead to a Complete Consolidation
By: TJ Martinell During the debates over ratification of the Constitution, one of the most influential and important series of papers were written by the Federal Farmer, an anti-federalist who forcefully ...
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The Division of Federal and State Powers
By: TJ Martinell How much power would the federal government have? And what powers would the states retain? This was a hotly debated question as the states considered ratifying a new ...
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Patrick Henry Warns of a “Great and Mighty Empire”
By: TJ Martinell On June 5, 1788, Patrick Henry gave a speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention warning that “consolidation” – centralizing of power – would turn the United States into a dangerous ...
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The Prophetic Anti-Federalist Warnings About Constitutional Taxing Power
By: Bob Fiedler In June 1794 the United States Congress passed a tax on the ownership of carriages. The tax called for a levy, “Upon all carriages for the conveyance of ...
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