Political Parties Develop
Name: ________________________________________________________ Class: __________
Political Parties
When George Washington took office for his first term as president, the country had no
political parties. A political party is a group of people with similar ideas and beliefs about
government. By the end of his second term that had changed. He worried that the nation’s
unity would be threatened by leaders with different ideas and viewpoints. Washington had
reason to worry. He had seen his closest advisers, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson,
disagree so bitterly about government ideas and laws that they both quit their jobs. They were
brilliant leaders who had the support of many citizens who thought just like they did. Jefferson
and Hamilton disagreed so much that they couldn’t even compromise. Compromise means to
give something up that you want in order to reach an agreement with someone else. Their
followers split to form two groups. The group led by Hamilton, which supported most of the
decisions make by the government, were called Federalists. The Federalists wanted a strong
central government. Thomas Jefferson
and James Madison led the other group
known as the Democratic-Republicans.
They wanted a weak central government
with strong individual state governments.
The members of a political party usually
agree on the way to run the government
and the laws that should be made.
Members of political parties work
together to get their leaders elected and
to influence government decision.
1. What is a political party?
2. Write about a time in which you compromised.
3. What did the Federalists want?
4. What did the Democratic-Republicans want?
5. What do members of political parties do together?
Federalist Viewpoints
Federalists represented mainly the interests of the gentry, or wealthy Americans such as
manufacturers, bankers, and business owners. Much of their support came from big cities in
the Northeast. Hamilton and his followers wanted to see the government run by wealthy,
successful people. They also wanted a strong national government that would hold the states
together. They wanted the government to support the growth of cities, trade, businesses, and
industries. They also supported the country that the U.S. traded with the most - Great Britain.
Federalists worked to increase the power of the national government, based on what the
Constitution allowed. Because the Constitution was a very general framework, however, it did
not answer some specific problems. The Federalists, therefore, looked at the meaning behind
the works in the Constitution and interpreted them to allow the government to do more. This is
called following a loose construction of the Constitution.
6. Who did the Federalists represent?
7. What did the Federalists want the government to support?
8. What country did the Federalists support?
9. What does following a loose construction of the Constitution mean?
Democratic-Republic Viewpoints
The Democratic-Republicans favored the interests of artisans, shopkeepers, and small farmers.
The party drew much of its support from the people living in the South. Jefferson and other
members of the party believed in the ability of ordinary people to govern themselves. He
wanted power to be shared by all the people, not limited to a small, select group. In the 1790s
the United States was overwhelmingly a framing nation. Small farmers made up about 90
percent of the population. Jefferson loved the country and believed that farm families who
owned and worked their land were the nation’s strengths. He wanted to establish a system of
public education to help farmers understand and defend their rights and freedoms. Jefferson
saw big cities as evil and didn’t support their growth or manufacturing. The DemocraticRepublicans supported France rather than Great Britain. Rather than work for a strong central
government, they worked to increase the power and independence of state governments.
They believed in limiting the authority of the federal government to the powers specifically
granted to it in the Constitution. This is called a strict construction of the Constitution.
10. Who did the Democratic-Republicans represent?
11. What did Jefferson believe? Be thorough.
12. What did the Democratic-Republicans want to set up?
13. What country did the Democratic-Republicans support?
14. What does following a strict construction of the Constitution mean?
Politics Dominate the Election of 1796
The rivalries between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans spread into Congress.
Both parties tried to gain control of Congress. During Washington’s second term as president,
the Democratic-Republicans won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. For the
first time, political parties decided who would run for president. The Federalists supported
John Adams for President and Thomas Pinckney for Vice-President. The DemocraticRepublicans supported Thomas Jefferson for President and
Aaron Burr for Vice-President. The Constitution said that
whoever received the most votes would become President
and the person who received the second highest amount of
votes would become the Vice-President. When the votes
were counted, it was determined that John Adams had the
highest number of votes with 71 and would become
President. Thomas Jefferson had the second highest
number of votes with 68 and became Vice President. This
meant that the President and Vice President were from
different political parties with different ideas about how
government should run.
15. How did they determine who would be President and who would be Vice-President?
16. List some problems that having a President and Vice-President from different political
parties might cause.
Comparing the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans
Name: _________________________________________________________ Class: _________
Federalists
Leaders
Beliefs on
who should
participate in
government
Thoughts on
the National /
Federal
government
What kinds of
businesses or
industries
they
supported
Where people
should live
What country
they
supported
Thoughts on
how the
Constitution
should be
interpreted
Democratic-Republicans