"I don't agree with this perspective. I believe that in aggregate, our liberties are plentiful and in many ways more prevalent than earlier in our history. Go to any state and examine some of the older "blue" laws. Compare a black man of today with one of 200 years ago, or even 100 years ago. Compare the freedoms women have today, as compared to the past." Balderdash. The government steals FAR more of our wealth than ever, playing Robin Hood to the "underclass". Our rights not to have our land stolen under "eminent domain" have shrunken drastically. Our rights to use our property as we see fit has vanished under "zoning laws", and "environmental regulations, and more. Our rights to own firearms are disappearing at a rapid pace. The only rights women have won are the right to vote and to abort. Overall, blacks ARE better off, that I'll grant you. If Washington, Jefferson, (and Adams) were alive today, the Second American Revolution would already have started.
I stand by my belief that the two things you talked about there are not the fault of the Federalists, but rather due to modifications in our Constitution pushed through long after the Federalists ceased to exist. Without the direct election of Senators and without the federal income tax, the tax system we have in place now and the land grabs by the government would never have been possible.