How Were Samuel Adams And Thomas Jefferson Alike In Their Position On Ratifying The Constitution?
Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson both were alike in their position on ratifying the United States Constitution because they both opposed the standing of a strong federal government.
Anti-Federalists like Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson believed that forming a strong federal government would cause the violation of States’ and American people’s rights in the near future.
They had one simple belief – “Only limited government’s power can ensure people’s happiness in a country”.
However, it doesn’t mean that Jefferson and Adams were alike in all their beliefs.
Some other notable Anti-Federalist leaders were:
- Patrick Henry (Virginia)
- Samuel Bryan (Pennsylvania)
- Joshua Atherton (New Hampshire)
- George Clinton (New York)
- George Mason (Virginia)
- Richard Henry Lee (Virginia)
- Robert Yates (New York)
- James Winthrop (Massachusetts)
- James Monroe (Virginia)
- Amos Singletary (Massachusetts) and more.
Some Prime Beliefs of Anti-Federalists
1. Anti-Federalists were afraid that the position of President would evolve and transform the newborn country into a monarchy.
2. To ensure the protection of common people’s natural rights, Anti-Federalists believed to create a Bill of Rights. This led the United States founding fathers to create the Bill of Rights on September 25th, 1789.
3. Anti-Federalists believed that the federal government would be too far away from the common people and thus they wouldn’t be able to solve their problems.
Anti-Federalists believed in making state governments more powerful than the center.
[Did You Know? Till The American Civil War, The Division of Power Between The Federal Government & State Governments Remained Quite Controversial. The American Civil War Solved A Lot of Questions of Power Division Between Center & States]
