Americans, who were influenced by Whig thought, feared centralized power. The Constitution was written and opposed by people who followed Whig thought. The Constitution reflects the thought of decentralized power, but yet some Whigs who were Anti-Federalists opposed it. .
The constitution reflects the Whigs thought that a centralized government is dangerous. One way that the Constitution reflects the conservative thought is that it lends powers to both the national and state government. The national government is given more power than it had prior to the document, like coining money and taxing, but the state government was solely in control of things like taxing and importing. Whig thought is also shown in the document by Congress being required to have two thirds of each house propose a law before it can become a law. Two-thirds vote from both houses is hard to get, so this limits the power of the national government to make laws. Another way that the Constitution supports Whig thought is that the two houses of national government that represent the states. Two senators from each state and representatives based on population per state make up Congress, which is part of the national government. So, each state is represented in the national government. These are all ways that the Constitution reflects Whig thought.
Whigs under the Constitution logically opposed the document. Though it represented some of the general ideas of Whig thought, it also allowed for a strong, federalist government. One way that the Constitution allowed for a Federalist rule was the "Elastic Clause". This clause gave the national government the power to institute new clauses because it basically said that the government could create anything it needed as long as it was to make another clause effective. This made the national government stronger. Another way that Whigs could oppose the document was that it gave the President power to veto a bill proposed by the Senate.
