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Title:
The anti-federalists and early American political thought / Christopher M. Duncan.
Author:
Duncan, Christopher M.
Publication Information:
DeKalb, Ill. : Northern Illinois University Press, 1995.
Call Number:
JA84.U5 D85 1995
Abstract:
After signing the Declaration of Independence and the drafting of the Articles of Confederation, a debate emerged concerning the political future of the newly founded country. One one side were the Federalists, champions of a strong central govrnment who with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution ultimately prevailed; on the other were the Anti-Federalists, defenders of an existing political order embodied in the Articles of Confederation. With the triumph of Federalism, Anti-Federalism quickly lost its appeal, and in time its proponents became overlooked. This book presents the "forgotten" thought of the Anti-Federalists as an important alternative to the Federalist tradition in American political history. In tracing Anti-Federalist concepts from their origins in prerevolutionary Congregationalist theology through to the writing of the U.S. Constitution, Duncan shows that Anti-Federalist theory underscores the religious, localist, and communitarian origins of the American political tradition. He argues that the Anti-Federalists were indeed the true representatives of the American Revolution and the political arrangements that resulted from it - men of a localist, communitarian faith in which political participation is an end in itself rather than a means to other objectives. As such, he concludes, the course bolstered by the Anti-Federalists represents a viable "road not taken" in America's national heritage.
ISBN:
9780875801896
Physical Description:
xxv, 228 pages ; 24 cm
Contents:
Puritan theology as political liberation -- Political liberation as American theology -- American political reformations -- The faith of the federalists -- The anti-federalists : men of a different faith -- Fruitful heresy.
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