Madison articulated the Federalist view that the new nation would be a combination of federal and national power. This essay was meant to assure doubtful Anti-federalists that the new government was not taking power away from individuals or from the separate states.
Federalist = Those who desired to establish a strong central authority over the states. They argued for a balance of power between national authority and states rights to self-government. They also argued against any need for a “bill of rights.” They lost that battle, but won the war.
Anti-Federalist = Those who upheld the rights of the states to retain their own authority as it flowed to them from the WE THE PEOPLE. The great fear of the Anti-Federalist was that American would one day install a President as King and people would lose their sovereignty and their individual liberty.
