We are taught from an early age that we won our “freedom” during the American Revolution. What, exactly, does that mean?
For the patriots, it had two distinct and different meanings. For some, it was about self-determination; a new nation would chart its own course independent of Great Britain. This did not represent any kind of judgment about how the new nation’s powers would be organized and used. For others, the issue was limiting the power of the central government; the point of the war was to resist oppressive rule, not just to change the identity of the rulers.
The first group supported the ratification of the Constitution and, for the most part, would be Democrats today. The second group were Anti-Federalists and, for the most part, are Republicans determined to resist any increase in the powers of the federal government today.