Question

Which of the following contrasts Federalists’ and Anti-Federalists’ understandings of what a bill of rights would do in the Constitution?
A. Anti-Federalists believed that only state governments could create a bill of rights, while Federalists thought only the federal government could create one.
B. Federalists thought a bill of rights would be too much like the Articles of Confederation, while Anti-Federalists did not see any connection between the two types of documents.
C. Neither group thought a bill of rights could do very much good, but the Anti-Federalists still wanted one.
D. Federalists saw a bill of rights as a document that would limit people’s rights, while Anti-Federalists saw such a document as preserving the most important rights..

Answer 1

D

Federalists worried that enumerating rights could imply that unlisted rights were unprotected (thus actually limiting rights) and were generally wary of a needless, potentially dangerous list. Anti-Federalists wanted a bill of rights to preserve and protect fundamental liberties from the new national government.