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The antifederalists at the time of the ratification of the US Constitution believed the document invested too much power in the central government. They believed that the majority of the power should lie with the individual states.
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.
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.
Federalists: supporters of constitution favoring balance of power between states/national government-insisted that division of powers and system of checks and balances would protect Americans from tyranny of centralized authorityAntifederalists: against constitution because they opposed having a strong central government-feared that strong central government would serve interests of privileged minority and ignore rights of majority, also raised doubts that single government could manage the affairs of an entire country-main argument centered on Constitution's lack of protection of individual rights
There is no doubt that the Anti-Federalist had some very valid arguments but in many ways, their principles seemed to be flawed. The Anti-Federalists believed that the Constitution was an attempt to fuse the government into one nation and for them this would undermine any authority the states had. The contention of this argument was on the basis that, "there was an inherent connection between the states and the preservation of individual liberty, which is the end of any legitimate government.