So, Thomas Jefferson was an Anti-Federalist. Like most Southerners he favored states' rights and small government. He represented the interests of the small farmers, favored a "small" "central" (They would not have called it the "federal government" at this time.) government and envisioned an "agricultural utopia" without a manufacturing facet in the United States. The Anti-Federalists could be likened to the Democratic Party of today in some ways because of the focus on the "little man." The Federalists could be compared to the Republican Party of today in that they favor the business sector. (These comparisons are VERY simplistic in nature since there are really no comparisons as a whole to the parties that exist today.)