Federalists DBQ

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

“You make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength, and to act in unison with each other. Besides other impediments, it may be remarked that, where there is a consciousness of unjust or dishonorable purposes, communication is always checked by distrust in proportion to the number whose concurrence is necessary.”

Thomas Jefferson was the third American President. Due to the fact that he was such an early President, he influenced our political system greatly, both in the short and long term with his seemingly quiet approach to congressional matters. During his presidency, many things happened that changed the United States as we know it. He coordinated the Louisiana Purchase, assisted in implementing the twelfth amendment, formed the character of the modern American President, and cut the U.S.’s war debt by a third.

The ability to unify a nation in a liberal democracy and work towards obtaining a given objective is incredibly difficult when everyone’s opinion is supposed to be valued. However it’s not just valuing everyone’s opinion that can cause concern, but the fact that people are allowed to act on their opinions, no matter how radical or crazy they are to the majority of the population. This allows for dissenting opinions against the general will to rise up and hold seats within the legislature; therefore, legitimizing their claims by thrusting them into the public spotlight. This can be both good and bad and it was explored in-depth by James Madison in The Federalist Papers. In his work he states the obvious concerns factions can have on a society

Federalists (pro-ratification)” and the “Antifederalists” (against the ratification) (5). Finally, the ratifications were settled on April 30, 1789 with the “inauguration” of George Washington, along with his appointed cabinet members, such as Thomas Jefferson (Secretary of State), Alexander Hamilton (Secretary of the Treasury), Henry Knox (Secretary of War), and Edmund Randolph (Attorney General) (6). The debates had been continuous, from gun ownership rights to “inalienable rights,” feminist views and nationalistic aims (8).

The Federalist Papers Ten and Fifty-One were the ideal papers written by Madison to support th¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬e ratification of the Constitution. Out of all the federalist papers, these are two of the most important federalist papers. So what were the federalist papers? They were 85 essays written by three gentlemen: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay that explained particular provisions of the Constitution in detail. Alexander Hamilton goes on to be the first treasury secretary, James Madison goes on to be the fourth president and John Jay the first chief justice in US history. So what was the purpose of these papers? Well, they were written to gain support for the US Constitution, especially in New York. While many people might see it as inevitable, the Constitution was a revolutionary step. Because of the revolutionary nature of the new constitution, arguments were necessary to rationalize it. Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, and New York were the states critical to the success or failure of the Constitution. Of these four states, New York by far was the state where the success of the constitution was in the most doubt. Quickly, Alexander Hamilton decided that a massive propaganda campaign was necessary in New York, more than in any other state. So with the help of James Madison and John Jay, he published several essays in different newspapers in New York. There is really little

The book A Magnificent Catastrophe, by Edward J. Larson, narrates a story about how dirty and devious America’s first presidential campaign of 1800, how it became the most powerful election and how it molded America’s future in today’s society. Adams and Jefferson two great friends that shared one common goal. It is to obtain America’s freedom against the motherland Great Britain. They have remained close coworkers and friends throughout the American Revolution, but then in the 1800 each went thru their separate ways and had their own political parties and different ideologies. One believed that solitary “effective central government led by a powerful president could forge a stable, secure nation from a multiple of weak, wrangling states” (Larson, 2007, 17) and called themselves Federalist led by John Adams. Adams believed that America should have only one strong influential president that is in control of the nation. He does not want to give people too much power because he does not want them to have a lot of freedom. On the other hand, one wants America to be the “land of free, prosperous farmers and workers” (Larson, 2007, 17) called themselves Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson saw America as a country that is for the people. The people of the U.S is the President and that all people are born with individual rights. An individual rights that the government couldn’t restrict just because they wanted to control the people and create a central government. The

In 1787, the delegates at the continental congress were all federalists. However, at the end of John Adams’ role as president, two separate political parties with different interpretations of the constitution developed: The Democratic-Republicans (also known as the Jeffersonian-Republicans) and the federalists. During the 1800s, there were two main political parties: the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans followed a strict interpretation of the constitution and the federalists followed a loose interpretation. However, during the presidencies of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, the two Parties abandoned their original beliefs. The Federalists, including Madison, started to interpret the constitution loosely and the Republicans, who followed Thomas Jefferson, interpreted the constitution strictly. Both changed their political positions

The Four Coercive acts were passed in 1774 by the British Parliament, as a direct response to the Boston Tea Party that took place in December 1773. The British Parliament was furious and forced Massachusetts to pay for the tea and to submit to imperial authority. A Port Bill closed the Boston Harbor, the Government Act prohibited many town meetings, the Quartering Act required the colonist to house, feed, and build barracks for the British troops, with no say, and the Justice Acts allowed trials for capital crimes to be transferred to other colonies or Britain. This outraged the colonist, as each law violated exactly what John Locke had stated the government shouldn’t do, it was a violation of their constitutional rights, and colonial charters.

The Anti-Federalist put up a long and hard fight, however, they were not as organized as the Federalists. While the Anti- Federalist had great concerns about the Constitution and National government, the Federalist had good responses to combat these concerns. The Federalist were and for the Constitution and feel the Article of Confederation were not worth ratifying, these should be scrapped altogether. They felt that the Articles limited the power of congress, because congress had to request cooperation from the states. Unlike the Anti-Federalist, the Federalist organized quickly, had ratifying conventions, and wrote the Federalist papers to rebut the Anti- Federalist arguments.

The early years of the Constitution of the United States were full of political strife. The two prominent political ideals were complete opposites. The Jeffersonian Republicans were focused on giving power to the people and maintaining a pastoral economy, while the Federalists supported the control of the government by the elite class, and maintaining “positive” democracy. Both parties feared the influence and effect the other party would have on the public. In Linda K. Kerber's article, “The Fears of the Federalists”, the major concerns Federalists held in the early 19th century are described. Ever since the war with and separation from England, the citizens of America were seen to be continually drive to “patriotic rebellion” as a way to

The Federalists upheld the belief that in order to maintain peace, a nation must be prepared for war (64). The Federalists believed that preparedness would result from the nation’s ability to adequately defend itself with strong arms, fortifications, and an extensive navy. The party stressed that defense should be concentrated on protecting the nation’s commerce, coast, and interior frontiers (64). In order to achieve these goals of defense, the Federalists supported a three-part program that called for expanding the navy, building coastal fortifications, and maintaining a standing army (64). The nation’s commerce had to be protected not only to ensure economic wellness, but to also ensure the protection of the nation’s agriculture. Agriculture would consequently suffer if commerce was damaged because agriculture is a large part of commerce; one could not survive without the other. To protect commerce, the Federalists favored the consistent maintenance of a large navy (64). However, this goal of the Federalists was faced with an obstacle when the Republican party was put into power. Despite warnings from the Federalists, the Republican party cut the naval budget, halted construction of ships, and reduced the number of viable frigates (65). In response, the Federalists voiced their arguments and voted for all fleet expansions proposals

The Jeffersonians were successful in achieving their goals between the years of 1801 and 1809 with the success of the Revolution of 1800, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Prevention of the Aaron Burr Conspiracies.

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.

In my opinion the Alien Acts are laws made solely to benefit the Federalist. I think this because immigrants would usually vote for republicans. Immigrants would usually vote for republicans because they could vote even though they were not always citizens of the U.S. The Alien Acts increased the amount of time before an immigrant could become a citizen thus not allowing them to vote for who they wanted. If the immigrants couldn't vote the Federalist would have a better chance than republicans. That is why I don’t like the Alien Acts because they were only made mostly to benefit the Federalist in elections.