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Robert Yates (Brutus) Position: Anti-Federalist

**Representative of New York**
Robert Yates represented New York at the time of the ratifying of the Constitution. New York is a northern state of the United States with a diverse population, including citizens with French, Dutch, and English connections, and was economically developed in the 18th century. New York mostly served to distribute English manufactured goods to farmers while collecting agricultural goods. It was mostly made up of agriculture and manufacturing. If New York was big on agriculture, it would mean that the state had fertile soil. Job opportunities included being an artisan, merchant, shipbuilder, and many others. Trade grew in New York along with its population. New York had an anti-Federalist majority and Robert Yates was one of their leaders.

Background
Robert Yates was born on January 27, 1738 in Schenectady, New York. He received a good education and eventually studied law with William Livingston. His occupation was being a politician and a judge. Between 1771 and 1775, Yates sat on the Albany board of alderman and during the Revolutionary War, he thought himself as a Radical Whig. During the Revolution, Robert Yates was also a justice of the New York State Supreme Court. After the Revolution, Robert Yates served on the Albany Committee of safety and from 1790-1798, he was chief justice of the New York Supreme Court. In 1789, he ran for governor of New York but lost. He is probably most famous for his "Brutus" letters that he wrote opposing the creation of the Constitution. Robert Yates died on September 9,1801. He left behind his wife, Jannetje Van Ness and four of their six children. along with very little of his capital.

Constitutional Convention
At the age of 49, Robert Yates was apart of the Constitutional Convention and left before the convention was adjourned; he refused to sign the Constitution. At the convention, he represented the anti-Federalist views, and was thought of as a leader for this position. Yates is best known for his efforts in making a strong central government. __Friends__ -John Lansing Jr. -George Clinton -Patrick Henry -Thomas Jefferson

__Enemies__ -Alexander Hamilton -James Madison -John Jay -John Adams

State Ratifying Convention
Robert Yates was also apart of the New York ratifying convention. His views were still the same in that he opposed the Constitution and wrote about his opinions in 16 essays that were published in the New York Journal from October 1787 to April 1788. This was the same period when //The Federalist// papers were shown in the newspapers. He signed these letters as Brutus, after the Roman republican who was apart of the assasination of Julius Caesar, preventing him from ending the republic. In one of his letters, he wrote, "If then this new Constitution is calculated to consolidate the thirteen states into one, as it evidently is, it ought not to be adopted." This shows what his view point was on the Constitution.

Arguments
Robert Yates opposed the Constitution. He warned to people about the dangers of centralizing power and how the government could become tyrannical. He also imposed any concessions to the federal congress, such as the right to impost (tax) duties. Anti-Federalists wanted a bill of rights if the Constitution was to pass. These bill of rights would ensure that the citizens of the United States would have freedoms that the government wouldn't take away. In his essay published in October, he stated that, "in so extensive a republic, the great officers of government would soon become above the controul of the people, and abuse their powers to the purpose of aggrandizing themselves, and oppressing them." He addressed to the people of New York that the power the government would have would soon become so great, that the officials would continue to abuse their power for the advancements of themselves. He also addresses in the same essay that, "in a republic of such vast extent as the United States, the legislature cannot attend to the various concerns and wants of its different parts." Robert Yates is addressing the concern that not all issues of the Untied States would be fixed if there would be a central government. In summary, Robert Yates argued mostly that, "to reduce the Thirteen States into one government, would prove the destruction of your liberty."