Jeffersonian Federalism and Constitutional Conflicts

The aim of this chapter is to provide a broad reflection on Th omas Jefferson ’ s contribution to the history of federalism, a contribution that I will trace back to a central point: the relationship between Jefferson and what one could call the ‘ vanquished federalists ’ (a deliberately ambiguous concept, which includes both anti-federalists and supporters of the compact theory, such as John Calhoun). In this, although their idea of federalism does not coincide with what emerged in the aftermath of the American Civil War, the anti-federalists are understood here as the ‘ vanquished ’ simply because they were the supporters of a vision of federalism that has remained a minority view since the Civil War and appears different from what has gone down in history as ‘ American federalism ’.