The election of 1800 was bitterly fought. While the Federalists were starting to fade out, they were still a strong force against the Democrat-Republicans. The Federalists spent much of the campaign accusing the Republicans of being radicals thanks to their support of the French Revolution, and Thomas Jefferson himself was accused of things like drunkenness and atheism, and one who would inevitably destroy the country through civil war and other evil acts. The Republicans, meanwhile, were accusing the Federalists being against Republican values and promoting aristocracy. Let’s take a quick step back to look at what the parties were. The Federalists were essentially the founding party (the original alternative were the anti-Federalists). They
Based on the political debate, I’ve learned many things about the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. For example, the Democratic-Republicans believed that having an economy that was based upon agriculture and farming was the best way to succeed. They thought that most citizens were good, and that there should be a more state-centered government so that the people can generally rule themselves. Democratic-Republicans thought that if the constitution didn’t specify something, you can’t read between the lines and make up what you want to do. They also believed that they should help France in the war against England because in the American Revolution, France had helped them.
The Federalists supported a strong national government and diplomatic harmony with the British, while the Republicans believed that a decentralized government was the best for America.
The Federalist Party did not last and today 's Republican
In the 1790s two major parties dominated the political scene. Those parties were people who sided with Alexander Hamilton, known as “Federalists” while the people who supported Thomas Jefferson were the “Anti-Federalists”. During the conclusion of the table, it was quite evident that the Anti-Federalists were considered to be more liberal, or in a broader sense, Democratic than the other party at the time. This can be inferred through the notion that they supported France throughout the French Revolution because they hated Britain because they once controlled everything they did; while on the contrary, the Federalists, which consisted of mostly business people, supported Britain due to their importance in trades. They also were against the
The Federalist and Republican Parties surfaced during George Washington’s term as President of the United States. During Washington’s term, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson’s opposing views helped with the creation of these parties. Both had the best intentions for the newly founded United States, but their thinking went in different directions. The disagreements centered on the amount of control the national government had and the capabilities of the American people to govern themselves. The Federalist Party believed there should be a strong central government at the expense of the states’ rights, the government should be run by wealthy, highly-educated people encouraging manufacturing and trade, and the Constitution should be used as a guide and interpreted loosely.
This group wasn't as organized as the Federalists, but they did, however, have a clear reason as to why they opposed it. This group thought that the Constitution would bring them all back to life under Great Britain, they wanted the power to be within the local and state governments. Stating that the three branches of government threatened their traditional belief in preventing government power. One leader and avid opposer of the Constitution was the Governor of New York at the time, George Clinton, and New York being a powerful state, he didn't want the government to have any of that power because of the document. The group also disliked the electoral system that would alway favor the elite leaders and not the common people.
The political groups we see today, mainly the conservative and democratic parties, stem from Democratic-republicans and Federalists who have shaped the nation from the start. The creation of the federal government, which brought upon the bill of rights, lead to the creation of these factional groups and merit debates which discuss the liberties of the common people. Jefferson and Hamilton, both posed differing opinions and ideas which supported one region more than the other in some cases. Jefferson, on one hand, focused on the farmer’s rights and opposed the government from becoming too powerful. On the other hand, Hamilton focused on the government with the elite to support the masses of the changing people with an economy based on manufacturing.
The two parties were the Republicans and the Federalists. The Republicans hoped government took a lesser approach to everyday life. Its individualistic perspective includes living in moderation, be tough, don’t spend more than you have to, and be honest. These lofty goals and ambitions were reasonable in the late 1700’s, early 1800’s, however, now most
Another reason for this belief was people didn't have guaranteed rights. In conclusion this belief among others led to the Anti Federalists fighting against the constitution. The Federalists and Anti Federalists thoughts on the bill of rights like everything else was different. The Federalists believed that the bill of rights was useless. Anti-Federalists thought it was essential to making sure that peoples rights were kept safe.
That’s a huge difference between these two parties except they both created systems in order to ensure the government couldn’t possess too much power. The federalists created checks and balances which split the powers of the government equally therefore no one party had too much overbearing powers. Federalists created this to ensure the government couldn’t become tyrannous. On the other hand the Anti-Federalists fought for a bill of rights therefore ensuring their rights couldn’t be robbed by a tyrannous government. Both sides were scared to trust a government after the strict British rule while one was more willing to make a new government than the other.
The party became associated with the first President, George Washington. Now, even though Washington made his best efforts to try and avoid dealing in partisan activities, the idea was cut short after some time. The so called “belief” that the United States had much to learn from Great Britain, created a new government in which was modeled after the government of England. This new form of government called for a solid, centralized bank with a federal constitution. On the other hand, the Republican Party was already intact when the Federalist Party was just coming into the picture.
During washington’s presidency, the opposing views of America began between the leaders of the first executive departments. The first two political parties of the U.S were Federalist and Republicans, also known as Anti-Federalist. The Federalist party was created by Alexander Hamilton, the secretary of treasury at the time, and the Republican party was created by Thomas Jefferson, who was the secretary of state at the time. First, the federalist were nationalist, they desired a strong central government and national bank. Providing that, the federalist allowed the government more power.
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists Federalists were mostly merchants, bankers manufacturers, and wealthy farm owners. They basically owned land or some type of property and were well-educated. Most of these people lived in urban areas. Anti-Federalists were mostly artisans, shopkeepers, frontier settlers, and poor farmers. They were mostly uneducated and illiterate and most of them lived in rural areas.
The Federalists and Democratic-Republicans were the first political parties to compete in the election in 1796. The 1796 election was the first election in American history were two opposite parties run for office. Both the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans adopted their titles from what they valued and believed in. The Federalists believed that the other party was irrational and dangerous to the United States government. The Democratic-Republicans accused the Federalists of being aristocrats.
In the early 1790s, the Federalist Party formed around the economic policies of Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson joined James Madison to form the Republican Party or known as the Democratic-Republican Party. Thomas Jefferson was against the policies made by Alexander Hamilton. In the mid-1790s, congressional candidates were either Democratic-Republican