Hi, I'm Jeff Sickinga, executive director of the Ashbrook Center, and this is the American

idea, where we discuss the ideas, people, and events that have made America what it is today.

We believe that by understanding our history and our principles, we can better

live up to the promise of the American founding and preserve our ongoing experiment in self-government.

Welcome to the American Idea. I want to welcome everyone to this episode of the American idea.

Today we're going to be talking about a group of Americans who have played a very

important role in shaping our American founding, but perhaps a role that's been misunderstood

and underappreciated. Today we're going to be

talking about the anti-federalists, those who opposed the ratification of the United States

Constitution. Seems almost unpatriotic to us today, but they themselves regarded that they

regarded themselves as American patriots, and because of their

patriotism, they thought the Constitution should be rejected. The conversation today is part of our

series on America 250, looking at the founding, the principles of the founding, they're shaping,

their creation, and their legacy through American history.

I'm joined for the conversation about the anti-federalists today with Professor Adam Carrington.

Adam holds the Bob and Jan Archer endowed position at Ashland University in the Department

of History and Political Science.

He teaches courses in American

politics, the U.S. Constitution, American Political Thought, and is a terrific scholar of American

political thought, the U.S. Constitution. Has a wonderful book that I want to recommend to our

listeners on Justice Stephen Field, an appointee to

the Supreme Court by Abraham Lincoln, and a number of other important writings by Adam

...