What The Antifederalists Were For

My earlier LRC blog on the Antifederalists has drawn much interest and enthusiastic support. My own interest in these true heroes of the Revolution goes back to my undergraduate studies in political science over forty years ago and has never wavered. There is a wealth of in-depth scholarly treatments of the demographic, socioeconomic backgrounds and ideological beliefs of the Antifederalists (who constituted a majority of persons living in the newly formed thirteen states and commonwealths of the republic). Here is a select assortment of such sources: Jonathan Marshall, Empire or Liberty: The Anti-federalists and Foreign Policy, 1787-1788; James P. Philbin, The Political Economy of the Antifederalists; Robert E. Shalhope, Toward a Republican Synthesis: The Emergence of an Understanding of Republicanism in American Historiography; Joseph R. Stromberg, Country Ideology, Republicanism, and Libertarianism: The Thought of John Taylor of Caroline; Gary North, Conspiracy in Philadelphia: Origins of the United States Constitution; Gary Galles, The Prophetic Antifederalists; and Joseph R. Stromberg, Nothing To Learn From the Antifederalists? It Just Ain’t So.

 

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12:46 pm on October 11, 2015