Question

All of the following were Anti-Federalist positions during the debate over the ratification of the U.S.

Constitution EXCEPT for which of the following?
OA. The Constitution made the federal government too powerful.
OB. A large federal government threatened the liberties of the states.
C. The Constitution was a class-based document that privileged the elite.
D. A large federal government made it impossible for any faction to dominate.

Answer 1

The Anti-Federalist position regarding the federal government's power, states' liberties, and class bias are all consistent with options A, B, and C, respectively. The exception is option D, which aligns with the Federalist perspective that a large government prevents factional dominance, thus D is the correct answer.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Anti-Federalist positions during the ratification debate of the U.S. Constitution centered around concerns that the Constitution made the federal government too powerful (A), threatened the liberties of the states (B), and was a document that privileged the elite (C). All of these options are consistent with the Anti-Federalist perspective, except for option D. The Anti-Federalists were worried about the potential for a central government to overpower state sovereignty, not that a large federal government would prevent factional dominance; this latter position is more in line with the Federalist argument, which is known from the Federalist Papers as a series of essays promoting the ratification of the Constitution. The papers argued that a large federated republic could prevent any single faction from taking too much control, an argument made famous by James Madison in Federalist No. 10. Therefore, D is the correct answer because it is the exception and represents a Federalist view, not an Anti-Federalist one.