The Federalists argued that annual elections would not afford representatives enough time to learn about their office.

[1] The essay also makes reference to the right to vote as laid down in the Constitution, stating: The definition of the right of suffrage is very justly regarded as a fundamental article of republican government.

Federalist 52 was Madison/Hamilton's attempt to explain the reasoning of the qualifications of the House of Representatives, and why it would be elected every two years.

("It is a received and well-founded maxim, that where no other circumstances affect the case, the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration.")

The Antifederalists, as was often their way, presumed the absolute worst-case scenario; here, they foresaw Congress postponing elections simply to maintain control and reduce the people to a state of "abject vassalage."

Over 230 years later, it would seem as though the Antifederalists were wrong in this fear, given that there has never been a postponed set of elections in the history of the United States, including in time of domestic and international turmoil.