s. The Anti-Federalist response was to push for substantial restrictions on Federal power and in this way secure the primacy of the individual over that of the government (Dry). It was a concern that would occupy Americans for generations.
Indeed, at the time of writing of the famous Federalist Papers, Publius was bound to answer the many criticisms the Anti-Federalist patriots were propounding in their own political essays. For this, the nature of the debate over the new American Constitution was irrevocably shaped; in helping to define the agenda and the issues, the Anti-Federalists managed to impact the larger debate concerning the establishment of the rule of law as it has come to be known. The premier case in point is of course the Bill of Rights itself. James Madison, the eventual author of the Bill of Rights, was never inclined to write them, calling the endeavor a ônauseou
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