Question

Why did Henry in 1788 oppose the proposed US Constitution and support the existing constitution under the Articles of Confederation? Why did Madison think in 1787 that a new constitution was necessary? How do the views of these two men compare in their views regarding the individual state governments?

Answer 1

The Anti-Federalists, Henry opposed the proposed US Constitution because he felt that the new national government would become very powerful and therefore threaten people liberties, given the absence of a bill of rights. Henry opposed the ratification of the 1787 U.S. Constitution as feared that the absence of a bill of rights was an attempt by the few to amass power. Henry influence helped in the creation the Bill of Rights that guaranteed personal freedoms and set limits on the power of government.

Madison was once actually the chief opponent of Bills of Rights. He believed that a confederated form of government would not b efficient and that small-scale republics had inherent problems due to their size. He designed an alternative constitutional framework that would avoid the inherent shortcomings. He was an advocate of a stronger central government, and his contribution helped in the overall creation of the Constitution.

Patrick Henry was against the centralized power and supported individual state governments. On the other hand Madison was in favor of weaker system of individual state governments, and supported the centralized power