144 Chapter 5 | a republiC enviSioned and reviSed | period three 175 4 –18 0 0II. Point 2 (claim): Federalists
A. Supporting evidence
B. Supporting evidence
A review of the reasons, however, allows your argument to move beyond just
two sides—and beyond the either/or fallacy. A more complex point-by-point
comparison may look like this:Working thesis: Both sides had some claim to the Declaration’s legacy.
I. Point 1 (claim): Antifederalists/Jeffersonian Republicans
A. Evidence from the supporting side
B. Evidence from the opposing side
II. Point 2 (claim): Federalists
A. Evidence from the supporting side
B. Evidence from the opposing side
III. Point 3 (claim), etc.
IV. Conclusion
Such an approach acknowledges that there are two sides to the debate but also
allows you to avoid oversimplifying the debate into two sides, especially as not all
reasons will favor the same side.
Two body paragraphs for point 1 might look like this:The Antifederalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans claimed to
hold many of the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. However,
many of those ideals undermined the nation’s ability to foster a stable
government and therefore protect many of the rights celebrated by the
Declaration itself. [claim] For example, the Antifederalists, echoing the
Declaration’s criticism of a tyrannical government, were suspicious of the
power of the new federal government to tax without the unanimous sup-
port of the legislature. Likewise, the Jeffersonian Republicans, harkening
back to the Declaration’s attack on the Crown’s admiralty courts, believed
that the Federalist government of John Adams overstepped its bounds
with the Sedition Act. [evidence of supporting side]
However, the Articles of Confederation’s weak taxation powers had
left the government perpetually unable to secure loans or guarantee pay-
ment of debts. The new Constitution solved this problem with stronger
taxation powers. Also, although the Sedition Act was harshly criticized
by the Jeffersonians, it was symbolic of a newly robust government that
was able to quell the kinds of internal rebellions that plagued the Articles
of Confederation. [evidence of opposing side]06_STA_2012_ch5_115-144.indd 144 11/03/15 3:19 PM