Federalist Party Formation

The Federalist Party is one of the two original political parties in the United States of America. These two parties originated during the first administration of George Washington. They were formed as a result of different opinions towards the extent of authority the new government wielded. The discussions during the debate of the bank of United States clearly portrayed clear different opinions between the state and the nation’s authority. They also had different perspectives towards the proposed treaty with Great Britain (MacDonald, 1905).

The Jeffersonian Republican and Federalist parties were very different in their way of government, but they did have one major thing in common and that was that they both wanted what they believed to be best for the nation, and believed it would be achieved through democracy. That is about where the similarities end. The Federalist party was majority wealthy people and aristocrats, strongest in the Northeast. While the Republicans were middle class who lived in the south and west. The Republicans also favored agriculture and rural life.

The Federalists favored a strong central government while the Republicans draw attention to the states’ rights. The Republican Party supported France while Federalists supported England. The Republicans supported France because they supported America in its fight for independence. Also, France had the best navy and Republicans respected the strength of their navy. Hamilton supported England because they had more goods and services where they needed to continue trade routes.

Federalists were property owners, creditors, and merchants. They believed that elites were the most fit to govern. They feared "excessive democracy" because they thought uneducated people would get into office. Federalists favored a strong national government and they believed in "filtration," which was when only elites could obtain governmental power. The leaders of the Federalist party were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington.

Republicans vs. Democrats When the United States of America was founded, George Washington warned against the formation of political parties. By the time the second election came around there were already two political parties, the Federalist and Democratic-Republicans. These parties eventually turned into the Republican and Democratic parties we have today. While these parties have shifted to become almost polar opposites politically, they still share some common goals.

Kimberly Paul Mr. Brandenburg 030817 Much like the Democrats and Republicans of today, Federalists and Anti-Federalists had diverging opinions on how the nation should be governed. Federalists had the utmost faith in the people and believed that they were the only ones capable of governing the nation fairly and efficiently. They were avid believers of a strong central government, a central bank, and an army. Federalist No. 39 states: “It is essential to such a government that it be derived from the great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion or a favored class of it,” proving that they were in favor of central, unionized government.

Interactions amid the provinces and the federal government, from constitutional issues to the most irresistible topics bang up-to-date in the country, are indemnified beneath the umbrella of “Federalism”. Authorities are shared so that on some matters, the state governments are decision-holders, whereas on the other matters, national government grasps the autonomy. In last twenty-five years, the upsurge of federal fiats on both governments, local and state, has shifted the power amongst state and national governments. Now, the national government is beginning to have more governance over the state’s engagements.

After the Articles of Confederation failed because they failed to give enough power to the national government and congress, our founding father’s needed to reflect on its flaws for a new system to be set in place. Their new creation, our Constitution, was then set into place, and was created from a basis of the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation directly influence the Constitution by its failure by changing some of the responsibilities of the federal and state governments. The Articles of Confederation gave too much power to the states, and the Constitution changed that.

After 13 colonies gained independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, Article of Confederation became their first government, where the federal government was too weak to enforce laws and sovereignty reside to states. It was then replaced by the U.S. Constitution. The authors of the Constitution desire a stronger national government and dual sovereignty and “argued that the best way of preserving liberty was divide power. If power is concentrated in any one place it can be used to crush individual liberty.” On the other hand, the antifederalists favored state government and limited national authorities.

After a fiercely fought revolution, the newly independent American nation struggled to establish a concrete government amidst an influx of opposing ideologies. Loosely tied together by the Articles of Confederation, the thirteen sovereign states were far from united. As growing schisms in American society became apparent, an array of esteemed, prominent American men united in 1787 to form the basis of the United States government: the Constitution. Among the most eminent members of this convention were Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. These men, held to an almost godly stature, defined the future of the nation; but were their intentions as honest as they seemed?

Around and during the time of the 1790’s america was going through a rough patch in political issues throughout america. Two main political parties were federalists, which were led by the Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton. He and the rest of his party believed that our country should have a strong central government. They believed that more power should be given to the federal government and not the people. The group of federalists of course was mostly made up of the upper class the richer population.

Not long after the United States constitution was created, the country witnessed a growing debate over how to explain and apply the presentation of the new constitution. During the 1790s the United States federal government took charge in a series of threats to the country such as international tensions. Most importantly the formation of competing political parties which were the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Today the United States is predominately a two party system although more political parties exist, American voters usually side with one of the main two which are the Democrats or the Republicans. These two parties represent different visions for America.