The farmer said the object of the anti-federalists was to oppose ratification of the United States Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. The 'farmers,' to use the Anti-Federalists' self-given nickname, though that the Constitution gave the federal government too much power and took power away from the states and localities. They thought perhaps the Unites States would become another iteration of Great Britain with this power and sought to prevent that from happening, identifying as 'true Federalists."