The Federalists Vs. the Jeffersonians

Mikayla Royea

Mr. Champagne

Honors U.S. History

October 20th, 2016

The Federalists vs. The Jeffersonians

        Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were both very respected men by the ones they led throughout the years. Hamilton led the Federalists while Jefferson led the Jeffersonians, which were later known as the Democratic Republicans. The confrontation, debates and differences between the two started after the Revolutionary war when the newly freed colonists were trying to establish their first financial plan. The responsibility of this fell onto Hamilton and the idea he had did not bode well with Jefferson. Jefferson believed that the constitution should be followed as it is written and that no choices should be made that weren't clearly stated. The political warfare between the Federalist and the Jeffersonian parties represented the polarized opinions that the American people had on things such as the national debt and how to govern their new country.

        Alexander Hamilton, being a federalist, had a more broad interpretation of government. Meaning, he believed that the government could make laws that it deemed were “necessary and proper” when dealing with the needs of the nation. Hamilton's group of cohorts was made up of merchants, bankers and manufacturers, mostly big time people. There were also wealthy farmers and Southern plantation owners involved with the Federalists. Hamilton was for a big government (strong central government), manufacturing, and national power. Federalist John Adams enacted the Sedition Act which stated that any person who spoke/wrote against the government would be charged with a high misdemeanor. If/when convicted that person will be fined and imprisoned (Doc F). In todays society, if you went against your government, you’d be looked at as a traitor and tried for treason and can be sentenced to a  minimum of five years in prison to even being sentenced to death.

Unlike Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson argued for minimal government involvement in everyday life. Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic Republican, had a more strict interpretation on the constitution. He, and his followers, believed that the government should only have the power to make changes that were allowed in the constitution. The Kentucky Resolutions, authored by Jefferson, were written to argue the fact that the federal government had no authority in exercising any power that was not stated in the constitution of the United States (Doc H). Jefferson wanted a small government, farming, state power, and a weak central government. Jefferson also believed that continuing to be an ally with the French would help us in the long run. Democratic Republicans were typically artisans, shopkeepers, backcountry farmers, and poor farmers (Hughes). In Jefferson's first inaugural address, he explains his belief that the people should unite for a common good rather than to avoid punishment. He also says that americans will come together under the will of law and express their opinions freely (Doc C).

The first issue between the two political parties was national debt. Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s treasurer, was given the responsibility of establishing the nation's financial plan. This had a tremendous impact on the making of the national government itself. Since the new country owed more than 50 million dollars, in both national and state debt, Hamilton decided it would be best if they established a national bank. The federal government would store their money in the bank, while it would print and back the national currency. The ones who would control the bank would be private investors (stockholders). Jefferson, as well as his confidant James Madison, disliked the fact that rich Northerners would acquire benefits from the bank. In an excerpt from Jefferson’s Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank, he states, “...I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground....to take a simple step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the power of the Congress, is to take possession of the boundless fields of power..”(Doc A). This quote by Jefferson is elaborating on how much he believed that creating a national bank would go against the Constitution. Hamilton had a different response to the same prompt, in Hamilton’s Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank he says, “If it would be necessary to bring proof to a proposition so clear, as that which affirms that the powers of the federal government, as to its objects, we sovereign,  there is a clause of the constitution which would be decisive...under their authority shall be the supreme law of the land, in any case, it doubtless sovereign as such a case.” (Doc B). This quote by Hamilton is explaining why a national bank would be necessary and proper.