Comparison of Federalist Paper 78 and Brutus XI Anonymous College

During the creation of the Constitution in 1787, Constitutional Framers were faced with the responsibility of crafting an improved court system after the failure of The Articles of Confederation. When analyzing the beginning stages of the judicial branch, we must necessarily look at the debates that took place between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists during the Founding. While both sides had radically differing opinions on the power and function of the judiciary, both sides agreed a better system was needed than that which the Articles of Confederation provided. Between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, the most notable debate was the power of the court to declare laws unconstitutional. According to the proposed Constitution, judges were appointed for life and their court rulings were not to be reviewed by another government branch. As a result, Brutus fears the Supreme Court’s decisions would be “independent of heaven itself” in his essay Brutus XI. However, Alexander Hamilton claims the judiciary will always be “the least dangerous” because the courts have neither “force nor will but merely judgement.” As we know, the Constitution was ratified despite Anti-Federalist concerns. However, many of the fears...