Originally Posted by liberty1776

Wait a seconond. The Federalist Papers were writen by Hamilton, Jay and Madison. They were written in support of the Constitution. It was the anti-federalists (who were really the true federalists) who were against the Constitution.

The dirty, rotten Federalists, wanted a new, more powerful government to replace the one under the Articles. Not many people wanted this, so three of them wrote letters to a NYC newspaper. These became known as the Federalist Papers.

Now, the Anti-Federalists were against this bigger government, and they insisted on several things, one being a Bill of Rights to further limit the power of government. Hence, the premable to the Bill of Rights which explains that the Bill of Rights are extra "restrictive" clauses.

Apparently, the Constitution and the Federalists were so popular, that for 12 years the Federalist Party ruled in Washington. So, the Constiution was not written to rid the country of the ideas expressed in the Federalist Papers, or the ideas of the Federalists. However, it was written for the purpose of limiting actual federalism.

By the way, Madison switched to Jefferson's party, the Democratic-Republicans, during Adams' tenure in office, I believe.