A permanent or baneful aristocracy - despite federalist assurances to the contrary - with senators mostly serving for life - that's what many anti-federalists warned we'd get with the structure of the federal Senate.
They certainly didn’t get everything right, but when they did, they almost seemed prophetic. Consolidation, executive power, factions and the ultimate end of despotism.
In the years leading up to the War for Independence, the revolutionaries took an increasingly hostile stance against people who collaborated with or helped the British. And no, it wasn’t just tarring and feathering.
In a series of speeches during the Virginia Ratifying Convention, Patrick Henry laid out much of the anti-federalist case against ratification without amendments. The foundation underlying all his arguments was a consistent warning against consolidation - or centralized power - and trusting people with that power.