Quiz Yourself: Small Government or Big Government?
Recently, in some personal reading, I was struck once again by the stark political differences among the Founding Fathers. We sometimes think of them as a singular group of unified trailblazers, but in truth, they were politically polarized in many ways.
One of the most notable at the time was federalism vs. anti-federalism—an ongoing debate about the division of power between the states and a centralized, federal government. Coming together from various regions, the Founders represented a spectrum of ages, personalities, theological beliefs, vocations, sources of income, circumstances, and personal pressures.
For example, Alexander Hamilton was a New York lawyer who served as a soldier, an officer, and a principal aide-de-camp for General Washington during the Revolutionary War. Hamilton advocated tirelessly for Congressional support when supplies were dangerously scarce. Tasked with developing a national treasury under President Washington, Hamilton was keenly aware of international war debts that threatened the young nation’s survival.
By contrast, Thomas Jefferson was a Virginian plantation owner who spent most of his life working in politics while suffering from crippling family debts. Though he did not consider slavery to be a moral ideal and his early draft of the Declaration of Independence would have abolished it, Jefferson depended on slaves to maintain his plantation and the Southern agrarian economy. He advocated for the Bill of Rights to complement the Constitution by defining independent liberties.
Based on those brief descriptions, what’s your guess: Was Hamilton a federalist or an anti-federalist? What about Jefferson? (If you’re a fan of the musical Hamilton, that may have given you a clue!)
If you think Hamilton was a federalist, you are correct. Jefferson had greater sympathies with anti-federalism, though he eventually became a strong supporter of the Constitution (unlike some of his anti-federalist colleagues).
What about you? Most conservatives tend to believe in a smaller federal government, but the related issues are not always so cut and dry. Take the following quiz and find out where you might have stood during the intense debate to ratify the U.S. Constitution in 1789.
State representation in Congress was key to the federalism vs. anti-federalism debate at the Constitutional Convention. Eventually, Connecticut-based founders Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth presented a collaborative solution with the two-house Congress we have today, known as the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise. The House of Representatives would give more populous states a greater number of seats, but the Senate would give each state, regardless of size, two seats. The Great Compromise only passed by one vote.
In my opinion, it’s a God-given miracle that men with differences like Jefferson and Hamilton could collaborate to enshrine national documents as brilliant, enduring, and far-reaching as our U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. When we ask for God’s wisdom, He is faithful to provide it—then and now.
“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men ... I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning ...” ~Benjamin Franklin, June 28, 1787
