Yes, states' rights is an important issue to this day. You can see the tension between the federal government and state governments with the move to legalize marijuana at the state level.
Chat with our AI personalities
weak!
The Antifederalists wanted to ensure that our rights would be protected from the government. They were against a strong national government, and this was there way of protecting citizens from it. So the federalists told the antifederalists that if they let let them send out the constitution to the states earlier, then they could right the Bill of Rights however they wanted and it would be later attached.
north carolina Rhode island
Differing views on these questions brought into existence two parties, the Federalists, who favored a strong central government, and the Antifederalists, who preferred a loose association of separate states. Impassioned arguments on both sides were voiced by the press, the legislatures, and the state conventions. In Virginia, the Antifederalists attacked the proposed new government by challenging the opening phrase of the Constitution: "We the People of the United States." Without using the individual state names in the Constitution, the delegates argued, the states would not retain their separate rights or powers. Virginia Antifederalists were led by Patrick Henry, who became the chief spokesman for back-country farmers who feared the powers of the new central government. Wavering delegates were persuaded by a proposal that the Virginia convention recommend a bill of rights, and Antifederalists joined with the Federalists to ratify the Constitution on June 25.
The anti-federalists were the opponents of ratifying the U.S. Constitution, because it would create a strong central government. Some of the noted anti-federalists were Patrick Henry, George Clinton and James Monroe.