Anti-Federalist vs. Federalist

Main Difference

According to the US history, after the American Revolution, the people who supported the federalism were referred as Federalist, whereas the people who were against it and oppose the cause were termed as Anti-Federalist. Anti-Federalist was the population of people who strongly oppose the concept of Federal Government. According to Anti-Federalist power should not only be in the hands of the Capital of the state, rather than it should be equally divided among all states and local government bodies. On the other hand, the Federalist were those people who agreed to make the Federal government so that the country and state could be managed properly from a common center. These people supported the Federal Party, which was the center of this cause at that time.

Difference Between Anti-Federalist and Federalist

Comparison Chart

What is Anti-Federalist?

In the US history, After the American Revolution, when it comes towards the settlement and stability of the state. A huge population of the people oppose the concept of federalism and deny the ratification of the Constitution of 1788. These were the people who do not want the US to be a federal country in which all the power is directed towards one center, and all the rest states and country is under its influence. Despite it, the Anti-Federalist prefer and want that the states and local government should be given all the rights of their own and the power of making their own decisions individually. On the other hand, there was a large number of people who wanted a strong centrally organized national government that follow the federalism. Anti-Federalist were the people mostly belonging from the rural areas of the America, and many were those who belong and represent small states. Samuel Adams, James Monroe, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were the famous leaders and personalities who supported the cause of anti-federalist and were leading the movement from the front. Due to lack of resources, less logical and population support and due to the violence of constitution and law the movement was not successful in totally finishing the federalism. The movement was finished as after the Bill of Rights of the States was passed in the assembly giving the proper and equal rights and powers to all the states.

What is Federalist?

Federalist refer to those people who after the American Revolution supported the cause of federalism and wanted to establish the federal national government. Federalist wanted that the US government should be centrally organized and govern from a common center or state. According to the Federalists, it is better to have centralized national government as it would manage the whole country and all its states collectively. The population of people supporting this cause belongs to the urban areas, and most of them were educated and politically aware people. As after the American Revolution, the whole country was suffering from various tension and was in a lot of external debts. For this purpose, people wanted to have a centralized government that could manage the whole country in the tension situation so that they could recover faster. Alexander Hamilton was the man that led this cause, and he led the foundation of Federalist Party 1792. Although the party and the cause were widely appreciated but were not able to survive for a long time because it opposes the constitution. The party was finished completely in 1824. The second president of the America John Adams was the only president that belongs to the Federalist Party. George Washington along with Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and John Jay led the cause of federalism from the front.