What was the main impact of the Anti-Federalists on the adoption of the US Constitution? Their concern for preserving liberty led to the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in the ratified form of the Constitution.

The Anti-Federalists opposed the ratification of the 1787 U.S. Constitution because they feared that the new national government would be too powerful and thus threaten individual liberties, given the absence of a bill of rights.

Though the Constitution was ratified and supplanted the Articles of Confederation, Anti-Federalist influence helped lead to the passage of the United States Bill of Rights.

It created a central government that had very little power. Individual state governments kept most of the power. This gave the states a lot of independence, but it also created problems. Signed by representatives from every state, the Constitution created a stronger central government that shared power with the states.

What was the Federalists’ argument for not adding a separate bill of rights to the Constitution? It might be used later to limit rights that weren’t originally listed. It was unnecessary because everyone had been granted basic freedoms. It was unnecessary because the new government had limited power.

Federalists argued that the Constitution did not need a bill of rights, because the people and the states kept any powers not given to the federal government. Anti-Federalists held that a bill of rights was necessary to safeguard individual liberty.

It spells out Americans’ rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. It sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people or the States.