The Anonymous John DeWitt Argues For Reflection
Welcome to the first Anti-Federalist Friday.
Here, we will discuss the popular Anti-Federalist authors and their main grievances with the US Constitution.
Our first Anti-Federalist wrote under the pseudonym John DeWitt.
John DeWitt
From October through December of 1777, a series of five essays appeared in Boston’s American Herald newspaper.
The author of these articles styled themself John DeWitt.
This was a pen name, and it seems that the true identity of this person has been forever lost to history.
The pseudonym comes from a Dutch leader, Johan de Witt, who supported republicanism over monarchy a century before the American Revolution. Unfortunately, the very people he championed eventually turned on him when the Netherlands were invaded and hung him.
Letters 1 and 2
The Letters of John DeWItt began appearing in print less than six weeks after the Constitution had been signed.
The first Letter served as a warning that the Constitution should not be approved flippantly. DeWitt was concerned that ratification was being done in haste and he believed it was important to take time and reflect on the document.
The second Letter argued primarily for a Bill of Rights, fearing that the National Government is too large not to have one.
DeWitt also uses these two essays to discuss the many problems he foresaw with a consolidation of the government.
Letters 3, 4 and 5
DeWitt’s third Letter expands on his concerns regarding representation.
He believed the Senate would eventually overpower both the President and House of Representatives and essentially establish an oligarchy based on solicitations and bribes.
The fourth and fifth Letters are looked on historically as less significant and discuss, among other things, DeWitt’s view that the system which had been proposed was inherently unequal and that the Federal Government will soon swallow up the State militias leaving the people totally unprotected.
As stated earlier, this was the first in my series on the Anti-Federalist Papers.
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I’ve put a lot of time into reviewing the Federalist Papers, so if you want to read more, check them out here:
