Which statements reflect Anti-Federalist concerns about ratifying the Constitution?

• A. No bill of rights, central government too strong
• B. It would weaken the monarchy and royal prerogative
• C. It would give states too much power and reduce federal authority
• D. It would make the Supreme Court be too weak

Answer: (A)

Anti-Federalists worried that a new national government would be powerful enough to threaten individual liberties unless clear limits were set. The statement about having no bill of rights and the central government being too strong captures that concern: without a bill of rights, they argued, the federal government might abuse power and trample rights. They pressed for explicit protections to curb federal authority and to preserve states’ sovereignty.

The other ideas don’t fit that line of worry. They wouldn’t focus on weakening the monarchy, since their core issue was the fear of centralized power and insufficient rights, not monarchy or royal prerogatives. They didn’t argue that states should have excessive power to the point of reducing federal authority; their fear was that the federal government would become too powerful. And they were not chiefly concerned that the Supreme Court would be too weak; the priority was limiting federal power and guaranteeing individual rights.