Based on what you know of the United States at the time the states were voting on the adoption of the Constitution and on your own personal inclinations, would you have been a Federalist or an anti-Federalist? What factors would push you toward one side and away from the other?

Personally, I would be an Anti-Federalist.  I would have remembered the struggle against Britain, and I would have been leery about creating a powerful, central government here in the United States.  I would have been proud of my state, and I would not have wanted to help other states pay their debts—especially if I felt that I did not benefit from them.  I would have feared giving taxation power to congressional representatives when the money would be better spent in my state.  The Federalists wanted to create a national bank, and I would have seen the potential for Eastern money interests to get more than their fair share of power in this arrangement.  While I would agree that the Articles of Confederation need to be modified, I would have stipulated that money extracted from the states be placed in a national emergency fund rather than be used for national purposes.  I would also mandate that each state pay its share of the debt.  Also, each state should be responsible for defending its own borders—this would increase pride in one's state and would enhance the state militia as a national army could be used as a punishing tool for a national leader.  While I would respect that the Federalists had valid points of national defense and fiscal solvency, I would see the threat to liberty as being too great.