Compare And Contrast The Democrats And The Federalists

The first president of the United States, George Washington, was a great man. He led the country to a successful start and most importantly, kept the country out of troubles in it’s very early and vulnerable years. In his farewell address, Washington warned against many different mistakes that the people of the States may make. However, the people of America did not listen to these intently enough, one of his greatest warnings, against political parties, was soon disregarded. Washington states, “Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of part are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage

The Federalists were led by Alexander Hamilton while the Democratic Republicans were headed by someone who constantly butted heads with Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson. Both parties also differed by class and region, the Federalists were based out of the north and consisted mainly of merchants and the wealthy. On the other hand, Democratic Republicans were from the South and had many farmers. As a result of their region and class differences the political parties had very simple contrasts. While the Federalists desired a strong central government, loose construction, and an economy based on manufacturing and trade, the Democratic Republicans wanted to maintain Revolutionary ideas, strict construction, and an economy based on farming. (George Mason University, Federalists vs. Democratic Republicans) These parties often conflicted and simple, objective differences led to larger

One of the most relevant attributes to this is their differences in construction of the constitution. The Federalists supported loose construction of the government, which means that the government can do anything that is not specifically said that you cannot do in the Constitution. Also, Congress had implied powers and were able to take actions not specifically forbidden. On the other hand, Democratic Republicans supported strict construction of the constitution which means that the government can only do what the Constitution tells you that you can do as a government and that Congress was limited to powers specifically granted by Constitution. Also, the Federalists thought that the national government should have power over state governments while the Democratic Republicans believed that the state governments should hold more power than the national government. (Lumen Learning, Competing Visions: Federalists and