Federalists and Republicans: The Rise of Political Parties

As we have already noted, the 1790s were a time of great political discord. It had begun during the Revolution when the Patriots and Loyalists often fought bitterly and violently against each other on the battlefield and in the streets. Many who had shared the patriot cause now found themselves at odds, and personalities were attacked on both sides of the political divide. Much of the anger was based on fear that the American experiment in republican government might not survive. In addition, the fear of strong central power that had been expressed during the ratification debates persisted. People were concerned with safeguarding personal freedom and were afraid that liberty as they understood it might not survive. Those feelings were heightened by the specter of the bloody revolutionary turmoil in France, and those who shared specific principles coalesced into political parties.

The Federalist party evolved out of those who supported adoption of the Constitution, its leaders being John Adams (recently returned from his time as ambassador to Great Britain), Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Washington. The anti-federalists were those who were concerned that the Constitution created the very kind of government against which they had rebelled (minus the king.) The anti-federalists evolved into the Democratic Republican party, known then as Republicans. Their leader was Thomas Jefferson, and although Madison had been an ardent Federalist until the Constitution was adopted, he soon moved into the Republican camp alongside his friend and colleague Jefferson.

The two parties both thought they understood the meaning of the American Revolution and the nature of republican government as now defined by the Constitution. The stakes were high, and feelings quickly grew bitter between the two parties, composed as they were by men of strong convictions—there were few shrinking violets among members of the revolutionary generation.

Evolved into Whigs in the Jackson years, then Republicans in 1854.

Evolved into the Democratic Party under Jackson in 1828.