Introduction
At first, there was no political party in the United States. However, as soon as some dominant personalities emerged in the US, they started to gather people and try to make a political party. Alexander Hamilton, who was the secretary of the treasury, started to gather people under a countrywide network of supporters and registered a political party under the name of “The Federalist Party” in 1792-93 (Jones, 2017). In response to Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, who was the secretary of state, with the help of James Madison, gathered people of the republic and Congress under the name of the Democratic-Republican Party. The elections held in 1792 were the very first elections in the history of America that were held on a party basis. In most states, the congressmen won the elections as the Democratic-Republican Party put forward the strategy that this election was a war between the state’s treasury department and republican interests.
In 1793, the Democratic-Republicans formed their societies that supported the French Revolution and Jeffersonian cause. In 1793, the war started between England, France and their allies. The Democrats were very inclined towards the French and said that there was a bond between France and the US that was signed in 1778, and under that bond, the US was bound to help the French in this war (Schattschneider, 2013). However, Washington decided that that particular treaty or bond did not say that the US had to help France or vice versa in case of war. So, he decided to remain neutral and not to help either country.
When the Anglo-French war threatened the US, Washington sent a delegation to England to remind them of the treaty that was still in effect, stating that both the US and England wouldn’t be involved in any kind of war or criminal activities. This delegation made the negotiations successful and made a treaty that was named the “Jay Treaty,” which was named after John Jay, who was leading the American delegation. This treaty settled many of the issues between the US and Britain. The Democrats criticized the treaty by saying that this treaty would give too much power to the British and the Federalists. Jeffersonians fought against that treaty to wrest power from the hands of the Federalists. For this purpose, they joined hands with many of their opponents, but they could not do what they wanted.
Discussion
The modern-era Democratic Party is the successor of the Democratic-Republican Party, which is also known as the Jeffersonian Party. Jefferson and all of his party leadership, including his followers, believed that if there was a strong and powerful centralized government, it would be a great threat to individual liberties. According to them, there is no mutual interest, but the US is a consortium of separate entities. However, Hamilton and his leadership believed that a strong and powerful government with all the necessary authority was essential to unite the nation. They saw the Constitution as a document, and according to them, this document should be amended with the passage of time as new topics and issues emerge that need to be addressed.
All the leading political figures had the same thinking that political parties wouldn’t be good for this country as, in their presence, the government wouldn’t be able to work properly, and these parties would sabotage the peace of the nation. But in 1793, both groups went their separate ways. Jeffersonians became Democratic-Republicans, while Hamilton’s followers became the Federalists (Brown, 2017).
The very first difference between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans was how they approached the Anglo-French war. The Democrats wanted to make strong ties and become an ally of France, while the Federalists wanted to support the British. They believed that America should make such a policy, both foreign and economic, that should favour Great Britain.
On financial issues, Jeffersonians strongly differed from Hamilton’s views. According to Democratic-Republicans, economic policy should be made to favour the middle and lower classes of the nation. They believed that the economy should be based on farming and maintaining the crops, while Hamilton thought that the best policy would be to build big manufacturing and production units.
As the Jay Treaty was ratified, the whole nation expressed its anger at the Federalists. Both Hamilton and Jefferson saw that this treaty was giving too much power to the British, but Hamilton saw this as a generous act because Britain gained most of its revenues by import duties on its trade (Mayer, 1996). France saw this pro-British act and started to declare war on the Americans by capturing their ships. President Adams sent a delegation to France to discuss the terms so that the ships could be freed from the French navy. The French government demanded a loan and a bribe of $240,000 (Tillman, 1961). Accepting the terms and conditions of the French government made many of the Federalists angry; as a result, the Federalist Party broke into two pieces, which ultimately affected the Jeffersonians in the 1800 presidential elections and also helped them win a majority of seats in Congress (Kolko, 1968). Jefferson’s party dominated US politics for the next decades because they were stubborn like the Federalists and were willing to adapt to change.
In 1812, President Madison, the successor of Jefferson, fought on two fronts, i.e., with the British outside the country and with the Federalists inside the country. As the Federalists supported Britain and wanted to make peace with the British, they took the stance in their party speeches that if the US remained inclined towards the French and continued to agree to all their terms and conditions, it wouldn’t be able to conduct free trade by sea. Their stance was not accepted by the people and remained unpopular (Holt, 1999). When the war ended, most Americans thought that it was a great success for the Americans as they defeated Great Britain. The Federalists’ stance failed, and they faced a huge defeat in the 1816 presidential elections.
James Monroe, the newly elected president of the United States, completed his tenure during a very calm political period. Many of the Federalists came to support the president and joined the Republican Party.
The basic difference between the Federalists and the Republicans was that both of them wanted to grant power to the US government based on what they thought was right in the Constitution, not what was truly written in the Constitution.
Conclusions
In the 1790s, the United States saw a major change in its politics. Before that, there were no political parties in the United States, but during this decade, because of some major and influential political figures, two political parties emerged, named the Federalists and the Democratic-Republican Party. These two parties had their own stances, which were totally different from each other on the Anglo-French war. One wanted Washington to be inclined toward France, while the other wanted the US to support British activities. Their stances on the financial and economic issues of the US were also totally different. One wanted to adopt the British rules and regulations, while the other wanted to adopt activities that would be beneficial for the labour class of the nation.
Republicans adopted many successful campaigns that were soon adopted by the Federalists to gain popularity with the public. The stance of the Republicans was strong, and they won four consecutive presidential elections and ruled continuously for more than two decades. During the Anglo-American war, the stance of the Republicans was proven right, which led to their victory in the presidential election. The Federalist Party was divided into two parts, and many of the Federalists joined hands with the Republican president, giving him a vote of confidence. Monroe’s period is known as the good era of Republican history as well as the history of the US. During this period, their major opponent was shattered into pieces by facing a major setback after its party members joined hands with the Democrats.
Works Cited
Brown, Matthew. “Hamilton on Broadway and the Founding in American Culture: An Introduction.” The Independent Review21.4 (2017): 485.
Holt, Michael F. The rise and fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian politics and the onset of the Civil War. Oxford University Press, 2003.
Jones, Andrea. “Cement of Our Union: Hamilton, the Treasury, and the Federalist Party.” (2017).
Mayer, William G. The divided Democrats: Ideological unity, party reform, and presidential elections. Routledge, 2018.
Schattschneider, Elmer. Party government: American government in action. Routledge, 2017.
Kolko, Gabriel. The Politics of War: The World and United States Foreign Policy, 1943-1945. Vol. 631. New York: Random House, 1968.
Johnston, Ron, and James Sidaway. Geography and geographers: Anglo-American human geography since 1945. Routledge, 2015.
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