On June 7,1788, Patrick Henry was holding a speech to his fellow colonists regarding the Constitution. In this moving speech, he stated, “You are told there is no peace, although you fondly flatter yourselves that all is peace… No peace… a general cry and alarm in the country… Commerce, riches, and wealth, vanished… Citizens going to seek comforts in other parts of the world… Laws insulted… Many instances of tyrannical legislation. These things, Sir, are new to me.” The Constitution was proposed by the fourth president of the United States, James Madison. The first meeting of the Constitutional Congress was held on May 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 12 out of 13 states were present. …show more content…
Patrick Henry stated at a speech in June of 1788, “...Here is a resolution as radical as that which separated us from Great Britain. It is radical in this transition; our rights and privileges are endangered, and the sovereignty of the states will be relinquished… The rights of conscience, trial by jury, liberty of the press… are rendered insecure.” Amos Singletree also made a bold statement in January 1788 saying, “These lawyers and men of learning, and monied men, that talk so finely and gloss over matters so smoothly, to make us poor illiterate people swallow down the pill, except to get into Congress themselves… and get all the power and all the money into their own hands, and then they will swallow all us little folks…” (Document 6). Patrick Henry stated that with the Constitution, the states would get more power back and become like Great Britain. The government would regain most of the power that they had lost and it would go back into a monarchy again. Amos Singletree also makes a point when he states that none of the colonists cannot do anything about it. Because of illiteracy and lack of knowledge about politics, only a handful of people get to make the decisions. However, that is not fair toward the colonists because they are forced to “swallow the pill” and deal with the laws they are given. The Anti-Federalists were looking for a liberal point of view. Because the Constitution would give more power to the government, they were afraid of the future possibilities and wanted to fight