Between the Federalists and Antifederalists was the struggle over ratification ultimately about differences in economic interests, or was it about differences in political ideas?

by nukeduke2
smileyman

Ask Historians isn't a place for homework questions. Having said that an invaluable resource on the subject is Pauline Maier's "Ratification: People Debate the Constitution".

It's probably the most thorough account of the ratification and debate process throughout America.

I will say this--the term anti-federalist was a term that was not used by opponents of the Constitution, but was applied to them by their opponents and then used by later historians. It was a wide coalition of groups that opposed ratification for a large number of reasons that varied from personal enmity amongst political figures, to local vs state control, to economic interests, to religious interests, to a host of other ones.

Much like there isn't a single reason for the Revolutionary War, there isn't a single reason for opposition or support to the Constitution.

Georgy_K_Zhukov

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