Antifederalists insisted on a bill of rights primarily for several key reasons:
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Protection of Individual Liberties: Antifederalists believed that a central government had the potential to infringe on individual freedoms. They argued that a bill of rights was necessary to explicitly guarantee fundamental liberties such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press, as well as the rights to assembly and due process.
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Fear of Centralized Power: Antifederalists were concerned about the concentration of power in a federal government. They argued that without specific protections, the new government could become tyrannical, similar to the monarchy the colonies had fought against during the American Revolution.
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Lack of Explicit Protections: The original Constitution, drafted in 1787, did not include a bill of rights. Antifederalists felt that the absence of such explicit protections was a major flaw. They believed that rights should be clearly enumerated to ensure that they could not be easily violated or ignored by the federal government.
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Historical Precedents: Many Antifederalists looked to state constitutions, which often included bills of rights, as models for protecting individual liberties. They argued that these precedents demonstrated the importance and effectiveness of having a written enumeration of rights.
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Public Sentiment: Antifederalists recognized that a significant portion of the populace was concerned about potential government overreach. By advocating for a bill of rights, they sought to align with public sentiment and strengthen their position against the ratification of the Constitution without such guarantees.
These arguments ultimately contributed to the promise of a bill of rights being added to the Constitution, resulting in the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791.