Question

Compare and contrast Federalists from Democratic-Republicans. Answer in at least 200 words.

Answer 1

From 1796 to 1816, the first age, or first party scheme, lasted. George Washington had a unifying presence for the first eight years of the nation's existence. But the party divided increasingly into opposing factions along conservative lines when he retired; those two factions quickly became known as Federalists and Republicans, the two original political parties of the party.

Driven by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, the Federalists believed in a powerful central government. Reading deeply through the Constitution (loose constructionism), they proposed that by establishing a national bank and constructing federally-financed highways, harbours, and bridges, government authority could be used to encourage economic prosperity. Federalists assumed that the economic future of America relied on close trade relations with Great Britain being cultivated. And they concluded that through protectionist policies such as tariffs, America's developing manufacturing industry should be supported.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led the Republicans, also called Democratic-Republicans. Via a restricted reading of the Constitution (strict constructionism), they favoured a smaller central government reduced in its powers. They feared that only a few rich Northeasterners would profit from federal interference in the economy, and believed that agriculture, not manufacturing, could remain the economic centre of the nation. Republicans rejected closer relations to Britain and appeared, in their revolt and ensuing war with the British, to sympathise with the French.

Although the nation remained governed by the Federalists through the 1790s, they soon collapsed after 1800. The election of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency was reinforced in the House of Representatives and the Senate by Republican victories. For around a decade, the Federalists were influential enough to block such Republican initiatives, although they were not effective enough to deter the United States from going to war in 1812 against Britain, a war vehemently opposed by the Federalists. And after it began, their continued resistance to the war seriously weakened their viability as a political party. The prestige of the Federalists was shot up after the United States survived its war with Britain and gained tremendous wins in Baltimore and New Orleans, and their national political clout was over.