“ As a matter of theory and analysis, the Federalists believed in a national system of government, while the Anti-Federalists believed in a decentralized and strictly federal system of government. The Federalists had the advantages of possessing a positive programme, and of gaining the first two points in the conflict when the national constitution was adopted and when they committed the national government to the exercise of such extensive powers as the creation of a national bank. The Anti-Federalists were thus merely a party of political opposition to the party in power. ”