Which of the following groups would have been most likely to oppose the opinions of george washington expressed in this passage? (apex apush)

“to the efficacy and permanency of your union, a government for the whole is indispensable. no alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. … this government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support.”

a. northern merchants
b. northern federalists
c. southern slave owners
d. southern anti-federalists