Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Chapter 4, Lesson 2: The Ratification Debate (pp. 118-122)
I. The Debate Goes Public
B. Federalists supported the Constitution because they believed that a strong central government was essential for the new nation.
C. Antifederalists opposed the Constitution because there was no bill of rights and because they opposed a strong central government.
II. Ratification - Just Barely
B. The fact that ratification did not require an unanimous vote of all 13 states, unlike the Articles of Confederation, made passage possible.
C. The Antifederalists won support for the idea of adding a bill of rights to the Constitution.
Lesson at a Glance Outline
A. People who supported the Constitution were called Federalists. People who opposed it were called Antifederalists.
A. Federalists moved quickly to hold state conventions in states which they knew would ratify the Constitution and which helped defeat the Antifederalists.
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