Federalists and Jeffersonians
"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."
- George Washington, Farewell Address Sept. 17, 1796
“Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.”
- James Madison, Federalist No.10
Few, if any, of the Founding Fathers supported the notion of faction (what we call political parties) in America's experiment with republican government. Washington was vehemently opposed to factions and attempted throughout his two terms as President to stay above the growing political fray between Hamilton and Jefferson. James Madison, on the other hand, also disliked the disruptive nature of factions but had the wisdom to recognize that to stifle the growth of political organizations would be to snuff out liberty itself.
Few Americans really understand the history of the party system, and that unfortunately goes for politicians themselves. Factions or parties first appeared during the ratification of the Constitution. Nine states had to approve it in order for the document to supersede the Articles of Confederation and become the law of the land. Supporters of the Constitution--led by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, the authors of the Federalist Papers--became known as the Federalists because they supported the new federal form of government. While the opposition, who were disorganized and can not really be called a party, became known as the Antifederalists and a few of their key leaders were Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and George Mason. The Federalists supported a strong national government, a strong executive power, and a federal form of government dividing power not only between three branches but into three levels of government (federal, state, and local). The Antifederalists preferred a confederate structure in which the individual states had more power and independence and a severely limited executive power, fearing the rise of another king or tyrant. The adoption of the Constitution in 1789 led immediately to the demise of the Antifederalists but their ideas did not die.
By 1792 opposition to the Federalists began to coalesce under the leadership of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. The catalyst for this was Alexander Hamilton and his economic plan to strengthen the country. The Hamilton Financial Plan called for the assumption by the federal government of all pre-revolution debt, imposition of excise taxes, creation of a national bank, a protective tariff and promotion of the manufacturing sector. This was a huge expansion of the government, which ran counter to the limited government philosophy of many Founders. In addition, Hamilton's personality did not endear him to many. What resulted was the development of the first two party system in U.S. history.
This new party was originally called the Democratic-Republicans (I know, confusing by today's standards) but as it evolved many labels were used. For simplicity sake the terms Jeffersonians and Jacksonians will be used here. The modern Democrat Party can tace its roots to this group, although to draw cmparisons over time is futile as the Jeffersonians in many ways were more like the modern Republican Party. Thomas Jefferson's name was placed into consideration for the 1796 Presidential election, but Washington's endorsement of John Adams was enough for the man from Braintree to win the contest. Jefferson ran again in 1800, and Adams' unpopularity from the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts was enough to open the door for a Jeffersonian win in Congress and the Presidency.
The Jeffersonians were the party of limited government, believeing Hamilton's economic policies were not only burdensome but unconstitutional. They also believed in a restrained executive power and more authority being given to the states. Their actions did not entirely follow their philosophy. While the size of government in terms of employees did drop, the Jeffersonians left in place all of Hamilton's economic ideas because they worked. In addition, Jefferson overstepped his authority as president by authorizing the Louisiana Purchase, promoting the repeal of numerous federal laws, and refusing to deliver official judicial appointments. Jefferson was concerned about creating a lasting democratic republic based on the "nobility" of the yeoman farmer (small family farm). He distrusted finance and manufacturing, like many agriculturalists and southerners, and pursued policies that would benefit the farmer. The presidents that followed him--especially Madison and Monroe--followed the Jeffersonian philosophy.
The rise of Andrew Jackson transformed the party (by this time the Federalists had faded away) by embracing popular politics. By the mid 1820s most property qualifications to vote had been repealed. John Quincy Adams was the last of the traditional, Founding Father type of politician. Jackson and the new, improved party, the Jacksonians, embraced these changes. Candidates for office began to make speeches, attend rallies, handout campaign buttons, and do things that we see even today during an election, because they had to appeal to a broader audience than ever before. Public opinion for the first time became very important. Adams beat Jackson in a hotly contested election in 1824 but Jackson won overwhelmingly in 1828. As party leader Jackson still embraced the agricultural and limited government ideas of Jefferson, but Jackson was much more involved in policy. He believed that the President had to be the policy leader. In some ways he followed party principles, as with the vetoing of the US Bank recharter, but he also went the other direction like on the tariff issue. His personality was largely the driving force behind the strength of the party, but that same personality led to the creation of an opposition party.
The second party system consisted of the Democrats (with Jackson gone use of the term is now appropriate) and the Whigs, which originated as strictly an anti-jackson party. Over time the Whigs began to embrace an agenda based loosely on the ideas of Hamilton. The key Whig leader was Senator Henry Clay. Clay advocated the American System which, like Hamilton, focused on manufacturing, a national bank, excise taxes, high tariff, support for manifest destiny and internal improvements like roads, canals, and the railroad. By 1840, the Whigs won the presidency under William Henry Harrison. The Whigs dominated the presidency from 1840 to 1853. But as the issue of slavery became increasingly important the Whigs opted for compromises and never took a stand against slavery, which is a key reason for their demise in the early 1850s.
A variety of minor parties hit the political scene in the 1850s. The American or Know-Nothing Party was primarily an anti-immigrant party. The Liberty Party embraced the abolitionist (end slavery) cause. The Free Soil Party did not call for the end to slavery but did not want it to spread to western states. By mid-decade the Republican Party emerged. In many ways it was like the old Whig Party but took a stand against slavery--short of calling for its demise. The man who popularized the Republicans was, of course, the great Abraham Lincoln. While the Democrats and Republicans were national parties, their centers of influence were pronounced. The north was the home of Republicans and the Democrats were the party of the south. The traditional Whig-Democrat differences existed, but the issue that primarily divided them in the 1850s through the 1860s was slavery.
As the two parties--Demcrat and Republican--evolved in post-Civil War America, their differences on policy became blurred. What really determined political differences were issues of region and race. Both embraced the Industrial Revolution, created political machines to run state and city governments, and became entwined in the corruption of the Gilded Age. Even during the Progressive Era, the differences were not pronounced. Theordore Roosevelt and William Taft were Republican and Wilson a Democrat during the twenty year period from 1900 to 1920 that we call the Progressive Era.
The modern Democrat and Republican Parties, in terms of political beliefs and policy, began in the 1920s and 1930s. The "imperial" presidency of Franklin Roosevelt profoundly impacted the political ideology of the Democrats. Whereas the two parties were already splitting on economic issues--the Republicans being the supporters of business, capitalism and economic freedom and the Democrats championing the cause of the working class and utilizing the power of government to provide services and support in that cause--under Roosevelt the Democrats embraced Keynesian economics, a water downed version of socialism and the welfare state.
The primary political parties today have significant differences on social, economic, and role of government issues. While there are subtler differences in foreign policy both parties took a stand against communism and terrorism, although the tactics they supported in those causes may have differed. What is interesting is that it is a falacy to compare parties over tme. The Republicans trace their ideological roots to Lincoln and even Hamilton but both of those leaders were for bigger not smaller government. Similarly, the Democrats will often claim to be the party of Jefferson even though he was a primary advocate of limited government and limits on executive power. The bottom line is that parties are fickle in the long run and only seek their self-preservation and power.
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