Audiobook · read by volunteers
Anti-Federalist Papers
Patrick Henry (1736–1799)
Read by Leon Mire, Sibella Denton, ML Cohen, Gary Gilberd, Robert Scott · 56 chapters · 19 h 51
About the book
When the new United States debated whether to adopt its Constitution, not everyone was convinced. This collection brings together the voices of the opposition, the writers and speakers later grouped as the Anti-Federalists. Under pseudonyms such as Brutus, Centinel and Federal Farmer, they published essays and letters in newspapers in 1787 and 1788, warning that a strong central government might threaten the liberty of the states and of ordinary citizens. Patrick Henry's speeches in the Virginia ratifying convention belong to the same argument. They ask hard questions about standing armies, taxation, a missing bill of rights and the balance of power between the people and their rulers. Five volunteer readers share fifty-six items, and the debate sounds as lively as ever. It is a rare chance to hear the losing side of a famous argument speak for itself.
Introduction
The Anti-Federalist Papers are the writings of those who opposed the ratification of the United States Constitution in the late 1780s. They are the counterpart of the better-known Federalist Papers, which defended the new plan of government. While the Federalists argued for a stronger union, the Anti-Federalists feared that the Constitution gave too much power to a distant national government and offered too little protection for individual rights.
Many of these pieces were first printed under pen names, a common habit of the time, and the authors were often not identified with certainty. Others, including the speeches of the Virginian orator Patrick Henry, were delivered in public. Henry, who lived from 1736 to 1799, is remembered for his stirring defence of liberty during the revolutionary years. Reading these texts alongside the Federalist essays gives a fuller picture of how Americans argued about the design of their republic.
The argument was not without result: concerns raised by critics helped to bring about the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights. This LibriVox collection runs for nearly twenty hours in 56 sections and is read by five volunteers. It is a useful listen for students of history and government, and for anyone interested in the roots of debates about federal power that still continue. For students and general listeners alike, this is a chance to hear political argument as it was conducted by those who had no certainty of winning. It adds a necessary balance to the more familiar story of the Constitution's adoption.
The speakers are not neutral, and they do not pretend to be. Their warnings, their fears and their rhetorical flourishes make the texts alive, and they remind us that the founding of a nation was a matter of passionate disagreement, not a settled affair.
Public domain
Patrick Henry died in 1799: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text