The Contrasting Opinions of the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists The Article of Confederation was the first new government for independent state. Under the Article of Confederation, the state government held most power. There were many weaknesses of the first government including lacking the power to tax and regulate trade between the states. So people decided to change it. At that time the Constitution wrote by James Madison was came out. When it came to ratification, some delegates at convention agreed with it and some did not. The people supported ratification was called Federalists, and those against it called Anti-Federalists. The most famous leader for federalists is Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. They support the National Federal Government to have the most supreme power. They established a system of Federalism and created office of President and Vice President and it still use in today. The one who opposed this idea was the anti-federalists which were leaded by Thomas Jefferson and George Mason. They thought that the State Government should have the most power, because they were afraid that if the national federal government has too much power, it would make our country back into monarchy. To support their opinions, the Federalists established a process for Checks and Balances to separate the powers of the National Government. In the other hand, the Anti-Federalists also came out with a thing called the Bill of Rights. The checks and balances use to separate the power of the three branches of government, legislature, executive, and judicial. So those federalists thought a powerful national government is ok because the power is not be held by only one person. The purpose of Bill of Rights is to protect the basic liberties from government, such as religious and political freedom, rights of bear arms, and powers of states and