Jonah Patel
The United States Constitution, drafted in 1787, did not call for the creation of political parties. However, political factions or parties began to emerge during the struggle over its ratification. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, wanted a strong central government. Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, led the Anti-Federalists, who advocated for states' rights instead of centralized power. These factions, referred to as Friends of Mr. Hamilton or Friends of Mr. Jefferson, laid the groundwork for the first political parties in the United States, with the Federalists becoming a party by name in 1795.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| First political parties | Led by Alexander Hamilton (Federalists) and Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republicans) |
| Federalists were mostly merchants, bankers, and those who shared a mercantile view of America | |
| Democratic-Republicans were mostly farmers, people from the South, and those settling in the west | |
| Formation of political parties | Political factions or parties began to form during the struggle over the ratification of the federal Constitution of 1787 |
| The Federalists wanted a strong central government, while the Anti-Federalists advocated states' rights instead of centralized power | |
| The Federalists coalesced around the commercial sector, while their opponents drew strength from those favoring an agrarian society | |
| The term "party" was not frequently used; instead, the term factions was used | |
| Political parties formed and organized over differing views of how the Constitution was to be interpreted | |
| George Washington's view | Washington was confident that the country could and should function without the existence of political parties |
| He warned the nation of political parties in his Farewell Address, published in newspapers across the country in 1796 |
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What You'll Learn
The Federalists
Political parties emerged during the rancorous debate over the shaping of the United States Constitution and the subsequent issues that followed based on interpretation of the Constitution. During this time, two factions emerged: the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.
To promote the ratification of the Constitution, Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, writing under the pseudonym "Publius," drafted 85 essays to appear in New York newspapers explaining how the Constitution worked. These writings, collectively called The Federalist Papers, helped convince New York and other states to ratify the Constitution. In these essays, the Federalists argued that the Constitution already contained protections for individual liberties in Article I, Sections 9 and 10, and that the entire Constitution, with its institutional restraints and checks and balances, was, in effect, a Bill of Rights. They also believed that because it would be impossible to list all the rights afforded to Americans, it was best to list none.
Hamilton's aggressive fiscal policies and belief in a strong central government were opposed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who thought his policies dangerously empowered the central government and favored the rich over yeoman farmers. Jefferson and Madison secretly drafted the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions to counter a perceived threat to individual liberties from the Alien and Sedition Acts, which limited free speech by declaring public criticism of the government officials to be seditious libel, punishable by imprisonment and fines.
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The Anti-Federalists
The arguments of the Anti-Federalists influenced the formation of the Bill of Rights. In response to the Anti-Federalists' demands for a bill of rights to guarantee specific liberties, the Federalists agreed to consider amendments to be added to the new Constitution. This helped ensure that the Constitution would be successfully ratified.
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The first political parties
The Federalists, led by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, wanted a strong central government. Hamilton's supporters were mostly merchants, bankers, and those who shared a mercantile view of America. The Anti-Federalists, led by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, advocated states' rights instead of centralized power. Jefferson's followers were mostly farmers, people from the South, and those settling in the west.
The Federalists wrote a series of 85 essays, known as The Federalist Papers, to promote the ratification of the Constitution and its stronger central government. These writings helped convince New York and other states to ratify the Constitution, and the Federalists succeeded in convincing the Washington administration to assume national and state debts, pass tax laws, and create a central bank.
The Democratic-Republican Party, led by Jefferson, began to form itself as a true opposition party in 1793 when Great Britain and revolutionary France went to war. The Democratic-Republicans supported an alliance with France, which had aided the Colonies during the Revolution, and opposed the Federalist policies that gave more power to the federal government and favoured closer ties with Britain.
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George Washington's influence
George Washington was the only president in US history not to be affiliated with a political party. He believed that the country could and should function without them. Washington considered political parties to be a threat to the young United States, warning that they would lead to a "spirit of revenge", with party members governing for power, rather than for the good of the people.
In his Farewell Address, published in newspapers across the country in 1796, Washington warned against the dangers of regional, interest-based political parties. He believed that parties would divide the electorate into competing groups, who might use violence to advance their interests, and that they would disrupt the separation of powers. He also cautioned the nation about geographical divisions, such as North versus South and East versus West.
Washington's warnings came in the context of the emergence of two opposing parties within the government: the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson, and the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton. These parties formed during the struggle over the ratification of the federal Constitution of 1787, with Federalists wanting a strong central government, and Anti-Federalists advocating for states' rights instead of centralised power.
Despite his concerns about political parties, Washington remained above the fray, wanting to be a president for all American citizens. He believed that unity, not division, was necessary for a democratic republic to survive. Washington's Farewell Address is considered one of the most important documents in American history and the foundation of the Federalist Party's political doctrine.
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The Kentucky and Virginia resolutions
The US Constitution was drafted in 1787, and political factions or parties began to form during the struggle over its ratification. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, wanted a strong central government, while the Anti-Federalists, led by Thomas Jefferson, advocated for states' rights instead of centralized power.
Now, onto the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which were political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799. They were written in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were enacted by Federalists and restricted immigration, making strong criticism of public officials illegal. The Acts also made it illegal to write anything of a seditious nature about the government, and several newspaper publishers and writers were imprisoned under these laws.
The intent of the resolutions was to induce other state legislatures to pass similar resolutions, acting as decentralized opposition to the Federalists. However, they were also controversial and elicited disapproval from ten state legislatures, with some arguing that they were "a recipe for disunion".
The ideas in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions became a precursor to John C. Calhoun's arguments about the power of states to nullify federal laws. However, Madison later rejected the legitimacy of nullification during the nullification controversy of the 1830s, arguing that it was not part of the Virginia position in 1798.
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Frequently asked questions
No, there were no political parties when the US Constitution was written. Political parties emerged through the rancorous debate over the shaping of the Constitution and the subsequent issues that followed based on interpretation of the document.
The two leaders of the first political factions were Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, and Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State. Hamilton and his followers—mostly merchants, bankers and men who shared a mercantile view of America—were called Federalists. They wanted a strong central government. Those who followed Jefferson—mostly farmers, people from the South and those settling lands to the west—were known as Democratic-Republicans. They advocated states’ rights instead of centralized power.
George Washington warned the nation of political parties in his Farewell Address, published in newspapers across the country in 1796. He feared that partisanship would lead to a “spirit of revenge” in which party members would not govern for the good of the people, but for power. Throughout his political life, and until his death in 1799, Washington was confident that the country could and should function without the existence of political parties.
