Anti Federalism Collection
"Anti-Federalism: A Battle for Liberty and Power" In the tumultuous years following the American Revolution
All Professionally Made to Order for Quick Shipping
"Anti-Federalism: A Battle for Liberty and Power" In the tumultuous years following the American Revolution, a fierce debate raged over the future of the newly formed United States. At its core was the question of how much power should be vested in a centralized government. The anti-federalists, led by influential figures like Patrick Henry, John Francis Mercer, and Richard Henry Lee, passionately argued against granting too much authority to a federal government. Patrick Henry's stirring oratory skills captivated audiences as he spoke before the First Continental Congress in 1774. His words echoed through history as he warned against consolidating power into one central entity that could potentially trample on individual liberties. The intensity of this ideological struggle is vividly depicted in an engraving from 1798 titled "Congressional Pugilists. " It portrays Roger Griswold wielding a cane while engaging in physical combat with Matthew Lyon - a victim of the Sedition Act of 1798. This image serves as a powerful reminder of just how heated these debates became within Congress itself. Political cartoons played their part in shaping public opinion during this era. One such cartoon from 1801 entitled "Mad Tom in a Rage" targeted Federalist policies by portraying them as irrational and detrimental to American interests. Similarly, another cartoon lampooned William Cobbett, an English political journalist and Federalist editor known as Peter Porcupine. The anti-federal sentiment continued well into subsequent years with cartoons like "A Peep into the Antifederal Club" from 1793 offering insight into their perspective on governance issues. As time went on, presidential campaigns also became battlegrounds for these opposing ideologies. In an election poster from 1816 supporting Democratic-Republicans, they identified their opponents -the Federalist Party- as pro-British devils associated with the controversial Hartford Convention held two years prior.