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Political Parties In The 1790s

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Political Parties In The 1790s
Throughout the early history of America political parties has formed around the early 1790’s. The first parties were led by Thomas Jefferson, the Democratic-Republican and Alexander Hamilton with the Federalist. Alexander Hamilton was the secretary of treasury. Hamilton aspired aristocracy and believed that the United States was going to prosper but needed the help of the wealthy families. Hamilton and Madison worked together to educate the public that the Constitution protected there rights. Both had written essays which expressed that “Any government could become oppressive, but with its checks and balances and division of power, the Constitution made political tyranny almost impossible” (Foner, Give Me Liberty, I, 208). The parties were …show more content…
The republican party was established to oppose the federalists. The federalist had supported and pushed through the ratification of the US Constitution. The Democratic- Republican party “criticized the policies of George Washington’s administration, which they claimed were planting the seeds of aristocracy in the United States” (Foner, Voices of Freedom, I, 144) Unlike the federalist, the republican party was composed of wealthy southern farmers and regular farmers as well as urban artisans. They were more outspoken to state the facts of the economic and social inequality. The Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, spoke primarily for agricultural interests and values. They distrusted bankers, cared little for commerce and manufacturing with those out of the United States, and believed that freedom and democracy flourished best in a rural society composed of self-sufficient farmers. The Republican party felt little need for a strong central government; in fact, they tended to see it as a potential source of oppression. Thus, they favored states' rights. They were strongest in the South. They viewed France as something that they did not want the nation to follow. Jefferson, who was the minister to France during the early times of the French Revolution, looked to the overthrow the French monarchy. This as justification of the liberal ideals of the

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