What were the differences between Federalist and Anti-Federalist leaders and who were their supporters?

I agree mostly with the answer above, except for the geographic breakdown of who lived where.  The geographic split between federalists and anti-federalists tended to be living followed a much more east-west line than north-south one.  Federalists were much more likely to be coastal and urban, while anti-federalists were much more likely to be from the interior, rural regions.

A rich merchant from New York or Charleston, then, was more likely to support the Federalists.  A yeoman farmer from Appalachia or western Pennsylvania was more likely to support anti-federalists.  Massachusetts was cut in half by these sentiments, with Boston and the Cape heavily Federalist, and all of the western farm country on the anti-federalist side.

Federalists also tended to be wealthier and better educated, more organized and had control over most of the newspapers of the time.

Well known Federalists included George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams and Alexander Hamilton.

Famous anti-federalists included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, James Madison and Patrick Henry.

In general (but only in general) the Federalists were from the Northeast and were typically richer and more involved in manufacturing and trade and such.  The Antifederalists were more from the South and were typically more involved in agriculture.

The Federalists wanted a strong national government.  They did not trust the people as much as the Antifederalists did.  They thought the national government would be more insulated from public opinion and would therefore do a better job than the state governments.  They worried that state governments would let the poor tyrannize the rich.

The Antifederalists believed more in democracy and thought that the state governments would be more democratic.  They worried that the national government would tyrannize them.

What is the difference between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists?

There is a difference between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists believed that the federal government should be strong. They believed that a weak federal government, such as the one that existed during the time of the Articles of Confederation, led to many of the problems our nation faced. They believed the Constitution should be interpreted loosely. This means that the government could do things unless the Constitution specifically prohibited those activities. They believed we should have a national bank. They also felt we should be friendly with Great Britain. John Adams and Alexander Hamilton were two important figures in this party.

The Anti-Federalists, who were also called the Democratic-Republicans, had differing views. They believed the size of the federal government should be small. They wanted the state governments to have more power. They believed taxes should be low. They also felt the Constitution should be interpreted in a strict manner, which meant the government could only do things that the Constitution specifically stated. Therefore, they were opposed to the idea of a national bank. They believed we should be friendly with France. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were two important figures in this party.

There were significant differences between these two political parties.

Who were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists?

In the debate over ratification of the Constitution, two groups emerged.  Those who supported the new Constitution were known as Federalists.  Those who opposed the new Constitution were known as Anti-federalists. There were several arguments made by the Anti-federalists against ratification of the Constitution. First, they argued that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government at the expense of the states. They also argued that there was no bill of rights.  The Federalist countered with several arguments of their own. They said that there were built in safeguards against the federal government becoming too powerful and dominating the states.  First, there was the idea of separation of powers where the government would be divided into three separate branches, each with its own powers.  Next there was a system of checks and balances whereby each branch of government was given the ability to check the power of the other two branches of government.  And finally, there was the idea of federalism, where power would be divided between the federal government (that is, the national government) and the state governments.  Some powers would be given or delegated only to the federal government, some powers would be reserved to the states, and some powers would be shared—both the federal government and state governments would have that power. Perhaps the best known Federalists were John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison who anonymously wrote a series of essays that appeared on a regular basis in four out of five newspapers in New York City.  No one knew who the real authors were at the time.  The essays, called The Federalist Papers, explained the reasoning behind the new Constitution and argued for its ratification. There were 85 essays in all.  In the end, the Federalist prevailed, with all states eventually ratifying the Constitution.  The Anti-federalists also won a victory when it was agreed upon to add a bill of rights to the new Constitution shortly after being ratified.

You are referring to the two main groups, and later political parties, that were associated with the Constitutional Convention and the early administration of the United States government.  Federalists were the reformers who called for the convention, because they felt the Articles of Confederation had become unworkable, that they were fatally flawed and we should go back to the drawing board.  They wanted a stronger central government with the authority to tax, raise an army, and otherwise conduct the affairs of state necessary to any effective government.  Prominent Federalists included Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, John Adams and Ben Franklin, among others.

Anti-federalists were nervous about this.  They felt it was a power grab and that the revolution they had fought so hard for would devolve into a monarchy if they allowed the Federalists to gain more power.  They wanted more power to the states and they wanted guarantees of individual rights.  Leaders in the Anti-federalist camp included Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

What are the differences between Federalists and Anti-Federalists?

The modern USA has a federal, or central, government; but after the ratification of the Constitution in 1788, there were many who were opposed to placing too much power in the hands of a central government, preferring to keep power with the states. This was because they felt that many of the issues with the United Kingdom lay with the fact that the government had too much power. The terms 'anti-federalism' and 'federalism' need not refer exclusively to the United States, as they can be applied in any nation that has county or regional governments as well as a national governmental body, but for the purposes of this question, I will assume you are referring to the Federalists and Anti-Federalists in the US following the American Revolution. 

The Federalists, who wanted a strong and unified national government in order to go about repairing the nation after the damage that had been wrought there by war, were led at their peak by Alexander Hamilton. These people tended to be more educated and more sophisticated, believing that the only way to undo the crippling debt of the young country was to establish a centralized system of banking and a single economic policy for the whole country. Federalism tended to thrive in the larger cities. Federalists supported the Constitution strongly. George Washington was strongly in support of Federalism. 

Anti-Federalists, many of whom were farmers and others who lived in the rural areas which had been most damaged by the war, feared that centralized policies would only lead back to the same issues of underrepresentation and economic disparity that had been suffered under the colonial government. They strongly believed in the free agency of states, whom they felt were best placed to act in the interests of the local people. Anti-Federalists included the likes of Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. 

What were the arguments of the Federalists and Antifederalists?

The Federalists and the Antifederalists had different viewpoints on many topics. One area they saw differently dealt with the power and the size of the federal government. The Federalists wanted the federal government to have a great deal of power. They believed a weak federal government would cause problems for our country. The Antifederalists, on the other hand, wanted the state governments to have more power. They believed the federal government should be small in size. They were concerned a strong federal government would abuse its powers.

The Federalists believed in a loose view of the Constitution. This would allow the federal government to do more things unless they were specifically outlawed in the Constitution. The Antifederalists supported a strict view of the Constitution because they believed it would restrict what the federal government could do. This would reduce the power of the federal government. A good example of this viewpoint can be seen with their position on the national bank. The Federalists supported the creation of the national bank while the Antifederalists were against the creation of it.

The Antifederalists were concerned the Constitution didn’t protect the people’s rights. They insisted a Bill of Rights be added to the Constitution. The Federalists didn’t believe this was necessary. However, they agreed to add a Bill of Rights in order for the Constitution to be ratified.

The Federalists and the Antifederalists had differences of opinion on many topics.

What were the differences between Anti-Federalists and Federalists?

The difference between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists centered around the power of the American federal government and the Constitution. Their debate eventually led to the ratification of the Constitution, but only once the Bill of Rights was approved to ensure that the rights of the citizens would be protected.

Federalists felt that the Articles of Confederation were too weak. This had been evidenced through a number events like Shays's Rebellion. They believed that the stronger federal government provided by the Constitution would serve to solve these problems.

Anti-Federalists opposed the ratification of the Constitution because they feared it would create a federal government like the British one they had just revolted against. They were afraid that such a strong federal government would lead to the loss of freedoms for citizens. Many Anti-Federalists felt that the Articles of Confederation simply needed to be revised.

Ultimately, Anti-Federalists were unable to prevent the ratification of the Constitution. While the Anti-Federalists failed to prevent ratification of the Constitution, they did succeed in gaining the inclusion of the Bill of Rights to ensure that certain liberties would be guaranteed to the American people.

Who were the Federalists and what were their main arguments?

The term "Federalist" was used in two different contexts. The first use of the term emerged during the debate over the ratification of the Constitution after the Philadelphia Convention. Supporters of ratification gave themselves the name "Federalists" (and their opponents "Anti-Federalists") to denote their support for the new federal government. Generally, these men were merchants, financiers, and large property owners who believed that the nation needed a more powerful central government. Some examples of leading Federalists are Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, George Washington, and Gouverneur Morris. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay penned the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 newspaper articles in New York aimed at explaining the Constitution and persuading New Yorkers to support it. 

Shortly after the establishment of the new national government, during the Washington presidency, the nation witnessed the birth of two political parties. This is when "Federalist" took on its second meaning, as the Federalist Party was born. From the 1790s to the end of the War of 1812, Federalists argued for an expansion of the powers of the federal government and policies intended to favor business and emerging manufacturing interests. They were also sympathetic to Great Britain in its war with Revolutionary France. They were still dominated by wealthy easterners, with an increasingly secure power base in New England. Their opponents became known as Democratic-Republicans, and they coalesced around Thomas Jefferson. 

So the term "Federalist" is used to describe the original supporters of the Constitution as well as one of the nation's first two political parties.

What are the main differences between Federalist and Antifederalist arguments in early U.S. history?

The federalists and antifederalist took opposite positions on how the new country should be formed at the end of the American Revolution.

The federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, felt that there should be a strong, centralized, federal government heading up the new nation; hence the name. They were often wealthy, merchant class citizens from urban areas. They favored the adoption of the Constitution for the framework in which this new nation would be created but they opposed the inclusion of the Bill of Rights as they felt it took powers away from the federal government to give them to individuals. They did however support a provision in the Constitution in article one, section 8, clause 18 known as the necessary and proper clause or “elastic clause” which gave the federal government the power to create all laws deemed necessary and proper to protecting and enacting the other powers outlined in the Constitution. They felt that the central government would be essentially powerless without a loose interpretation of this clause to allow for the creation of new laws when necessary to adapt to changing times and conditions.

The antifederalists, led primarily by Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, felt that supreme authority in the new country should rest with the individual states. They were often poor rural farmers and laborers and suggested that there should only be a loose alliance between the states with no substantial central government. This framework was outline in their preferred document, the Articles of Confederation which gave all powers to the states and left only a bare bones central government to handle international relations. They favored the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution to preserve individual and state liberties from encroachment by the federal government and encouraged a strict interpretation of the Constitution and “elastic clause” to prevent the federal government from growing too large and oppressive.