The Anti-Federalist Party

[annarborgator]

It's finally here:

We do not pretend, nor claim, that we have reached the point in our Republic where the actions undertaken by the brave Founders of this nation must, or should, be repeated. Indeed, it is the sincere hope of all who claim to be Anti-Federalists that such circumstances will never again arise in America.

We do, however, believe in the essence of 1776, and the promise of America, as expressed in The Declaration:

*That all men (and women) are created equal.
*That rights are not endowed or granted by government, but are unalienable and vested as a consequence of personhood, and thus can only be protected (or abrogated) by government.
*That government exists as a lawful and just enterprise only so long as it acts with the consent of the governed.
*That our Constitution is black letter law, not a list of suggestions.
*That The Constitution sets forth a limited form of Federal Government, reserving most functions to The States and The People.
*That we must return to this form of limited Federal Government in order to preserve our liberties, our economy, and our national sovereignty.

{. . .}
The reasons are both historical and contemporary. There was, at the time of ratification of The Constitution, a body of people who believed that The Constitution was inadequate to protect against tyranny and the ultimate failure of our nascent government. These people, along with those on the other side of the debate ("The Federalists") wrote many essays and letters, and were largely responsible for The Bill of Rights being included in The Constitution.

But they argued that even The Bill of Rights did not go far enough, and many of their warnings of usurpations and violations of the rights of man have, sadly, come to pass. We therefore honor those fine patriots in the name of our party, in the hope of being able to restore America to its Constitutional roots.

http://anti-federalist.org/

[TheTodd]

My only question for the Anti-Federalists is this:

Back then, and actually a good part of the 1900's, was a huge difference between the haves and the have nots. I do agree with some of their ideas but other than having a laissez faire stance on the economy, I really don't see how they would preserve the economy. I'm just not certain I understand why they would use the economy as a platform as the US wasn't a great economic power until the Gilded Age.

[annarborgator]

Well, first, I don't think the aim is to re-create or imitate the conditions of early America. I think the Anti-Federalists simply focus on the values that were prevalent at that time, especially with respect to the limitations placed on the power of the federal government. From the platform:

We reject out-of-hand expansive “interpretations” of the commerce clause in The Constitution, instead insisting on nothing more or less than the black letter of the printed word – Congress shall have the right to regulate only actual interstate commerce for the purpose of prevention of what amount to tariffs between the several states, not acts that could impact upon interstate commercial activities.

As one specific example of many, we reject the oft-cited principle that the shipment of raw materials into a state creates a presumption of interstate commerce, and therefore federal regulatory authority, for the finished products produced from those materials.

http://anti-federalist.org/platform.html

I think that the point would be for the states to regulate commerce where possible and have the feds step in where necessary.

[MinGator]

*That rights are not endowed or granted by government, but are unalienable and vested as a consequence of personhood, and thus can only be protected (or abrogated) by government.

probably my biggest peeve with the government of last 40 years. They are not in the authority position to grant me rights.