The Federalist Era is the period of time from about 1788 to about 1801, beginning with the ratification of the Constitution and ending with Jefferson’s inauguration as President of the United States. The Federalist Era is characterized by how the Federalist Party took over and transformed politics in the United States. The Federalist Era brought about quite a few achievements in failures. During the Federalist Era, there were a lot of achievements in the United States. First of all, the Federalist Era arguably began with the adoption of the United States Constitution. The Federalists, who later became the Federalist Party, were the supporters of ratifying the Constitution. Anti-Federalists did not support the ratification of the Constitution …show more content…
The Constitution took effect as the supreme law of the land in 1789. Second of all, Congress established the National Bank during the Federalist Era. Alexander Hamilton was President Washington’s Secretary of Treasury. As a Federalist, Hamilton believed in the loose construction of the Constitution. Loose constructionists like Hamilton believed Congress had the power to do anything not banned by the Constitution. Hamilton proposed the establishment of a national bank for issuance of currency and federal loans, protection of federal revenue, and regulation of smaller banks. Despite opposition from the Democratic-Republican Party, Congress approved Hamilton’s proposition by a narrow margin. Third of all, the Federalist Era triggered westward expansion. During the Federalist Era, the government formulated policies for settlement. In the 1790s, the United States began to expand into western territory. The government also accepted three new states to the union; Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Fourth of all, the Federalist Era encouraged the growth of a strong central government. During the Washington presidency, the influential power behind the Federalist Party was Alexander Hamilton. Alexander …show more content…
First of all, an event known as the Whiskey Rebellion occurred during the Federalist Era. In Pennsylvania, farmers used corn to produce whiskey in order to utilize more useful modes of storage and transportation. In Hamilton’s plan of tariffs and taxes, there was an excise tax on whiskey produced in the United States. The tax triggered violent protests from farmers in Pennsylvania. George Washington used executive power to put down the rebellion. In addition, the rebellion caused a deeper division between political parties. Second of all, the Federalist Era is characterized by resistance from the opposing Democratic-Republican Party. The Democratic-Republican Party began with Thomas Jefferson’s resignation from Washington’s cabinet due to decisions on Federalist policy. Jefferson especially disagreed with Alexander Hamilton’s decisions on finances. By the end of the Washington presidency, the partition between loose and strict constructionists had transformed into two political parties. The loose constructionists became the Federalist Party and the strict constructionists became the Democratic-Republican Party. In Washington’s farewell address, Washington warned the people of the United States about how political parties can cause the destruction of the government. Third of all, the Federalist Era is characterized by foreign conflicts and tension. During the Federalist Era,
George Washington himself wanted to avoid a party system in America. Unfortunately, even when saying this he was part of the beginning of one of the first parties in United States politics. There have been many different parties surface since the beginning of the American political system. They all have different thoughts, policies, and motivations. Each party has come and gone, some have made significant contributions and others have not. The first split, and beginning of the party system, came with the differentiation between the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. These two parties were extremely different in thought, design, and status of people involved. This paper, will deal with
During the time period of 1801 to 1817, there were multiple issues in the United States ranging from wars to political boundaries. This time period saw the termination of the Federalist party. The conflicts were between two parties called the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Federalist party was officially started by John Adams. John Adams was also a loose constructionist just like all the other Federalists. Federalists were in favor of a strong central government. On the other side, was Thomas Jefferson who was in office from 1801 to 1809. Jefferson started the Jeffersonian Republican party. The Jeffersonians were strict constructionists who believed in states rights. They said that anything that is not stated in
When Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801, after an intense realignment of the majority of office holders from Federalist to Anti-Federalist in the “Revolution of 1800”, there were many policies headed by former Treasurer Alexander Hamilton that were still in place. Instead of doing what would have been expected of him by his peers, and taking steps
In the article The Fears of the Federalist by Linda K. Kerber and The Fears of the Jeffersonian Republic by Drew R. McCoy, both draws the ideals of the federalist and the Republicans distant conflict of opposing ideas in the political field. Kerber expresses, in her article, how federalist were carefully placed people with leadership from the top minds of wealthy society. As for McCoy shined the Republicans in his article as a bright blue collar society of united people that were more willing to change with more of rebellious mindset. Yet these groups seem to have ideas on different spectrums of the political layout. A vision of what America should become, both feared that the effects of each other's assembly would have on the public and influence for change in the future of the United States stability at home and foreign.
The Constitution had changes the United States greatly. The document, written in 1788, was a powerful representation of the government back then, and amazingly, it’s still in play today. During the 1700’s, the first political parties formed over disagreements in the government and the constitution. The two parties were the Federalists and Antifederalists. Federalists made up the people who felt that the stronger government was best for the country and supported the Constitution. The federalists had felt as if different “fiscal and monetary policies” were a weakness in the national economy. Also, the Federalists supported banking("Anti-Federalist vs Federalist"). Federalists wanted to fight for stronger governments, managing the country’s debt
There was a certain big change in economic and social changes in the United States since 1800. The election of 1800 was between John Adams and Andrew Jackson, which was an emotional and hard-fought campaign. Each side in this campaign thought that the opponent in which would victor, would ruin the nation. Federalists had actually attacked Jackson as an un-Christian deist because they believed his sympathy for the French Revolution would bring similar bloodshed and chaos to the U.S. Overall, the Federalists wanted strong Federal Authority to restrain the excess of popular majorities, while the Democratic-Republicans wanted to reduce national authority so the people would be able to rule through state governments.
During the last decade of the eighteenth century, the Federalists were in control of the country and its policies. They passed laws to make a strong central government and some of them even desired for there to be a kind of landowner aristocracy. Their power soon began to erode from within as different factions headed by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton greatly weakened the party's effectiveness and power. They alienated themselves in the eyes of the population by passing the Alien and Sedition acts. This led to the election of Thomas Jefferson as president in 1800, who described his election as a second revolution. Jefferson and his supporters were now able to try to bring about their dream of making America an agrarian republic of small
The origins of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties can be traced back to the early 1790s. Initially, the Federalists, or broad constructionists, favored the growth of federal power and a strong central government. The Federalists promulgated a loose interpretation of the Constitution, which meant that they believed that the government could do anything by the implied powers of the Constitution or that congress had the right to interpret the Constitution based on connotation. On the contrary, the Democratic-Republicans favored the protection of states’ rights and the strict containment of federal power. The Democratic-Republicans were strict constructionists and they
Federalism has played a large role in our government since the time that the Constitution was ratified. It originally gave the majority of the power to the states. As time went on, the national government gained more and more power. It used the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution to validate its acts, and the Supreme Court made decisions that strengthened the national government creating a more unified United States. Finally, the recent course of federalism has been to give powers back to the states.
First, when the political parties emerged in the 1790’s it was evident that their ideologies were vastly different. The Republican Party wanted a representative form of government that functioned “in the interest of the people.” This party, led by Thomas Jefferson, supported a limited central government, with individual states retaining a majority of the control. Jefferson’s vision was for a nation of farmers, and farmers do not need big government to survive. They feared a large central government would take away the rights of the people. On the other hand, the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, supported a strong central government that would pursue policies in support of economic growth, which in turn would provide the freedom the people wanted. Hamilton’s followers also supported a diverse economy.1 It is important to note here however, that both parties knew they would have to become national parties in order to win any elections and both parties had followers in the north and in the south. There was no sectional divide in the parties.
By 1817 the great American experiment was in full swing. America was developing into an effective democratic nation. However as the democracy continued to grow, two opposing political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Federalists saw it differently. They opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. The seemingly solid divide between Federalist and Republican would begin to blur during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. For, neither Republican president was able lead
The 1800 realignment was the decline of the Federalist party and the rise of the Democrats and the Republicans. The federalist lost a lot of seats in Congress and had a hard time competing for the Presidency and in 1820 didn’t run a candidate in the 1820 election. The Hamiltonians and the Jeffersonians squared of over the scope and power of the federal government. The Hamiltonians were in favor of federal government and executive power and the Jeffersonians in favor of state government and legislative power.
While the anti-Federalists believed the Constitution and formation of a National Government would lead to a monarchy or aristocracy, the Federalists vision of the country supported the belief that a National Government based on the Articles of the Confederation was inadequate to support an ever growing and expanding nation.
The creation of the first national bank in the United States was of utmost importance in setting precedence for how much power the constitution actually grants the government. The debate over whether to create a national bank raised many questions over the constitution that hadn’t been tested before. It also raised questions about what the government can do when the constitution has no written clause on a certain subject. In looking at the arguments from Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson regarding a national bank, people can find out more about how some of the leading founders of the Constitution wanted to see the United States government run.
These different views on government made many people think hard on what type of government they wanted. In the end, the Federalist’s point of view won. Today, this type of government still exists. It made one of the