At the start of the new country, the noble political leaders, including Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, understood that the political parties would eventually paralyze the government and polarize the United States citizens. The Democratic-Republican Party, which is currently known as the Democratic Party, evolved during the presidential term of George Washington in the 1790s. Being the Washington State Secretary, Thomas Jefferson always endorsed the State’s rights and fought for keen adherence to the Constitution. He claimed that citizens’ liberty was at stake due to the central government’s magnificent power (Sullivan 21). With his followers, Thomas Jefferson strongly viewed the United States as more of a sovereign entity bound with a common interest. However, the federalists had a different view because the unity among the citizens of a new nation, the U.S., was directly associated with the nation’s strong central government. They viewed a Constitution as a document that should continuously evolve along with the growth of the country
There is a significant difference in how the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans handled their relationship with Britain and France. Hamilton’s group, which later became the Federalists, insisted on using the American foreign policy to favor only the British economic interest. However, Thomas Jefferson’s group, Democratic-Republicans, had an agenda of specifically strengthening the American relationship with France (Sullivan 22). After the 1789 revolution, the Democratic-Republicans fully supported the French Revolution’s outcome, which completely changed France’s political and governance structure.
When it came to economic development strategies, the Democratic-Republicans and Federalists differed significantly. The Jefferson’s group maintained a stand of safeguarding the working class, who were the farmers, merchants, and specifically the laborers (Jones 54). They argued based on an agrarian economy whereby they firmly believed that it would best serve this working class. The Bank of United States was seen as a strategy of taking away personal power and eventually being associated with the rich (Jones 53). However, the Federalists believed that the manufacturing sector and the industry were relevant to a self-sustained economy. To protect the domestic production of goods and generate government revenue, Congress adopted tariffs in 1789. In 1795, the Jay treaty was ratified, which dictated the British to leave the fur posts. However, the Federalists concluded that the treaty did not work for the best interests of Americans.
Works Cited
Jones, Andrea. “Cement of Our Union: Hamilton, the Treasury, and the Federalist Party.” Senior Honors Theses, 681, 2017. Web.
Sullivan, Brenna. Federalists and Republicans: How Liberty Influenced Political Parties. 2019. Dissertation. Southern New Hampshire University. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.