FedAnti-Fed Debate

No sooner did the ink dry on the Constitution that political parties formed about how to interpret the Constitution.  For all the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, no one predicted that political parties would come into existence so quickly.  The political differences were rooted in fundamental disagreements about the role the federal government should play in society and whose interests the government should primarily represent.

The objectives for this lesson include:

• The students will be able to research and debate the merits of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists positions in the 1790s.
• In the form of a debate, the students will be able to represent the major differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalist parties in the 1790s.
• Based on who students represent, they will be able to decide how the different political parties interpreted four different political issues during the period—the bank, states rights, the French Revolution, and popular rule.