The Anti-Federalists Were the Conservatives

Patrick Deneen says that "if we revisit the debates at the time that the nation was considering adoption of the Constitution*, we discover that the conservatives opposed adoption of the Constitution, while it was the 'liberals' who urged its ratification" — Constitution as Regime.

He promises to "write more about the specific fears – and the remarkable foresight – of a number of the Anti-federalists," by focusing on "three core elements of the theory of the Anti-federalists, namely the centrality of virtue, political liberty and common sense knowledge lodged broadly in the populace."

A recent post of mine on the theme — The Way and Virtue of Anti-Federalism.

* A project I recently began myself with Ralph Ketcham's edition of The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates.