III.

Federalist and Republican Parties

Within a short time informal parties did develop, even though their adherents still insisted they disapproved of parties as a permanent feature in American politics. One faction, commonly identified with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and Vice President John Adams, became known as the Federalist Party. Federalists favored an active federal government, a Treasury Department that played a vital role in the nation’s economic life, and a pro-British foreign policy. It drew especially strong support from merchants, manufacturers, and residents of New England. The other faction, whose central figures were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and fellow Virginian James Madison, was the Democratic-Republican Party, the forerunner of today’s Democratic Party. The Democratic-Republicans advocated a limited federal government, little government interference in economic affairs, and a pro-French foreign policy. They were particularly popular with debt-ridden farmers, artisans, and Southerners.

The structure of government itself in the United States was conducive to the formation of political parties. The carefully elaborated system of checks and balances, established by the Constitution, makes executive and legislative cooperation necessary in the development of policy. Further, the division of legislative powers between the federal and state governments, as provided in the Constitution, makes it necessary for advocates of such policies as the regulation of commerce to seek representation or strength in both the federal and state legislatures. As these ends were too complex and difficult to achieve by impermanent groupings, the formation of permanent political organizations was inevitable.

The Democratic-Republican Party (whose members also referred to themselves as Republicans or Jeffersonian Republicans) held power for 28 years following the inauguration of President Jefferson in 1801. During this period, the Federalist Party became increasingly unpopular. It ceased functioning on the national level soon after the War of 1812, leaving the Democratic-Republican Party as the only national political organization.