Publius

Here TRUTH unlicens’d reigns; and dares accost—e’en KINGS themselves, or RULERS of the FREE!Thompson’s Liberty.

1787–1788

New-York : Printed and Published by Thomas Greenleaf, at the Printing-Office, No. 25, Water-Street.

The opposition press

The Anti-Federalist Papers

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While Publius argued for the Constitution in the Independent Journal and the Packet, Thomas Greenleaf’s New-York Journal carried the other side. Brutus made the systematic case against the new plan, and Cato went after the presidency, both writing against the Federalist essays as they appeared. Read them beside the papers they answer.

Begin with Brutus No. I

  1. I

    Against the Consolidated Republic

    Argues a republic as large as America must slide into consolidation and lose its liberty.

    Brutus

  2. II

    The Missing Bill of Rights

    Demands a bill of rights, since a government of the whole people will absorb reserved powers.

    Brutus

  3. IV

    The President as Elective King

    Warns the presidency’s term, powers, and patronage make it an elective monarchy in waiting.

    Cato

  4. IV

    Too Few to Speak for So Many

    Argues sixty-five representatives cannot mirror the people and will be drawn from the few.

    Brutus

  5. VI

    The Sweeping Clause

    Reads the taxing and necessary-and-proper powers as a grant of unlimited government.

    Brutus

  6. X

    The Danger of Standing Armies

    Warns that unlimited power to raise standing armies in peacetime endangers the republic.

    Brutus

  7. XII

    Courts That Will Enlarge the Government

    Predicts federal courts will read the Constitution expansively and carry consolidation forward.

    Brutus

  8. XV

    Judges Accountable to No One

    Argues life-tenured judges, subject to no correction, stand above the Constitution itself.

    Brutus