Political parties

Hello, Steven

Yeah, it's a mess. We often look back on GW's farewell address and warning against the "baneful effects" of political parties as if he was somehow prescient. But I don't believe he was forecasting a dim future due to the potential rise of political parties because problems had already arrived. Look at the divisiveness between Federalists and Anti-federalists before GW was elected. The back and forth between those two camps signaled a sharp division in political philosophies and did not bode well for the future. Then, when GW was serving as president, the battle royale between Hamilton's Federalists and Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans widened the gap between Americans.

Today, no matter how anyone interprets GW's warning, the question may be, "What do we do about political parties, now?"

From 1796 to 1828 the first political parties were formed. During the time when our country was in its formative years, two opposing factions arose. Each was concerned with how the new government was to be organized. The Federalists believed in a strong central government and supported the ratification of the Constitution. Additionally, they supported industrialization, a national bank, and government aid to build roads and canals. The Anti-Federalists - who were eventually called the Democratic - Republican Party, held the opposite views. The Anti-Federalists strongly supported the rights of the states. They were opposed to a national bank and favored farming over manufacturing. They were firmly against the government helping to further industrialization by building roads and canals. The Federalists won their cause for the Constitution. However, efforts by the Democratic-Republican Party to influence people to the Anti-Federalist cause eventually weakened the Federalists. By 1824, the party was virtually non-existent.