American First Party System

The United States of America proposed the final draft of our Constitution on September

17th, 1787. Behind the 236 year old document was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. The way the

country would be run was in the hands of 55 men who were just lawyers, writers, merchants,

farmers, or simple business men. Due to the complaints of the Articles of Confederation, all state

matters like territory, taxation, and trade were crumbling. The Constitution was to be a revision

of the Articles of Confederation and a final ta‌ke on building our government. There were many

arguments over the directions they could choose to lead this country, thus ending in a political

separation. The founding fathers then distributed into their opinionated groups, thus making the

Federalists and Anti-Federalists political parties.

(Oak Hill Publishing Company 2019) Over the course of 4 months, 55 men from all over

the 13 original colonies would meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss what was right for

the American people and our country. Through many battles and tough wars, we gained our

independence in 1776 and now it was just to decide our political system. Many inquiry questions

went into building America's foundation such as if we should be an oligarchy form of

government, or monarchy like Great Britain. Some would suggest that the states have more

power because we are the citizens & others would say the government since they're in control.

That became one of the biggest predicaments when making the Constitution.

Federalists were for the constitution and favored a strong central government, weaker

state governments, and a representative form of democracy. Three more well-known federalists

would be Alexander Hamilton, James Madison & John Jay. They are the authors for The
Federalist Papers which are a collective of essays that portray the constitution in a favorable

manner to sway readers to be for the ratification of the Constitution. (LIBRARY OF

CONGRESS 2019) The Federalist Papers were published on May 28th, 1788, a year after the

constitution had been promoted.

Anti-Federalists were against the proposed constitution. These people believed the

national government would become too powerful and revoke the citizens' individual rights. This

group consisted of members such as John Hancock, Richard Henry Lee, George Mason, and the

Anti-Federalist leader Patrick Henry. (Wikipedia Contributors 2019) The ideology behind the

movement against the constitution was to have governments such as Confederalism,

Decentralization, Liberalism, or Republicanism. In response to the final draft of the Constitution,

The Anti-Federalist Papers were written just 8 days after.

(Ramos 2009) Federalists were persuaded and came to a compromise. When it was time

to ratify the Constitution, Madison included a Bill of Rights, which promised individual liberties

for all citizens. The official copy of the Constitution was published on June 22nd, 1788.

Federalists had the upper hand on the constitution until 1800. (“First Party System'' 2022)

(History.com Editors 2018) Jefferson & Madison founded the Democratic-Rupublican party,

which would later become known as just the Republican party, and gained a mass of followers

consisting of farmers and planters.

(“Democratic-Republican Party | History & Ideology” 2019) The French Revolution was

a war that broke out between France and the British in 1798. Federalists catered more towards

the side of the British while the new Republican party sided with the French. As the Republican

party grew throughout this time, they gained the courage and confidence to fight against the

Federalist proposed Jay Treaty and the Alien and Sedition Act.
 Thomas Jefferson was the first of 3 consecutive Democratic-Republican presidents to be

inaugurated into office. His victory was to show other politicians, federalists, and doubters that

leadership can be transferred through different political parties due to the constitution. Thomas

Jefferson was known to be a strong and positive advocate for students to have free public

education. (“Thomas Jefferson Presidency- Major Events,” n.d.) Over the course of his

presidency, Jefferson made the famous Louisiana Purchase in 1803, ‌funded the Lewis & Clarke

expedition to map and discover the land of America from 1803-1806, established Washington

D.C. as the nation's capital, abolished foreign slave trade in 1807, and established The Embargo

Act of 1807 after encountering The Chesapeak Affair in June of 1807.

James Madison was elected into office in 1809, making him the 2nd consecutive

Republican president. (American Battlefield Trust 2018) In November of 1809, war between

Native Americans and U.S. forces would break out later being known as The Battle of

Tippecanoe. The battle happened only 3 months after signing the Treaty of Fort Wayne, which

was an agreement with tribes residing in Indiana, to sell 3 million acres of land to the U.S.

government. This ordeal was ultimately the catalyst for the War of 1812 between Britain and the

United States.

(Editors 2009) The pushing factor for the War of 1812 was the restrictions Britain had on

America's trade and the U.S.’s aspiration to expand the country into new territories. Britain was

in a feud with Napoleon Bonaparte, who was the French military leader at the time. Britain's

thought process was that if they cut trade with France, exports wouldn't reach the enemy country.

In an attempt to make this order, it would be required that America do the same since they were

in alliance with Great Britain. Once war was declared, America almost immediately attacked

Canada since it was a British controlled country. We take success in the Battle of Lake Erie in
1813, meanwhile Napoleon's armies are defeated and Britain turns its full attention over to the

United States. In 1814, British troops invaded through Chesapeake Bay and captured Washington

D.C.. This resulted in multiple government buildings being burned, including the capitol and

White House. With battles like the Battle of Plattsburg following almost directly after, the

American navy defeated the british. Just 2 days later, Fort McHenry stood through 25 hours of

British navy strikes. Talks of peace had begun in Ghent, better known today as Belgium.

America dropped the demand to stop impressment and the British stopped all planning on

changing Canada's border. On December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed. The war was

marked as the fall, or demise, of Federalists. Since they were more for Britain rather than France,

they were deemed as unpatriotic. The war of 1812 was ultimately a huge expansion era for the

United States and was a growing experience we definitely took advantage of.

Personally, I do not feel it was the right time for the country to be splitting into political

parties that early into creating a country. The main focus should be what's best for the people first

and creating a stable economy since breaking away from Great Britain was the goal. Over time,

our military has grown, trades have increased, and we've become one of the greatest, most free

countries in the world. As we are continuing to figure out our people, our country, and what kind

of future we want for this country, I think we did a pretty good job building a nation blindly with

no motherland support.
Citations:

Ramos, Mitzi. 2009. “Federalists.” Www.mtsu.edu. 2009.

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1184/federalists.

Oak Hill Publishing Company. 2019. “United States Constitutional Convention.”

Constitutionfacts.com. 2019.
https://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-constitution-amendments/the-constitutional-conven
tion/.

Wikipedia Contributors. 2019. “Anti-Federalism.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation.

December 16, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Federalism.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 2019. “Research Guides: The Federalist Papers: Primary

Documents in American History: Full Text of the Federalist Papers.” Loc.gov. 2019.
https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/full-text

“First Party System.” 2022. Wikipedia. February 24, 2022.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Party_System

History.com Editors. 2018. “James Madison.” HISTORY. A&E Television Networks.

October 2, 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/james-madison
“Democratic-Republican Party | History & Ideology.” 2019. In Encyclopædia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Republican-Party

“Thomas Jefferson Presidency- Major Events.” n.d. Www.scholarshipsads.com.

https://www.scholarshipsads.com/blog/thomas-jefferson-presidency-major-events/
 American Battlefield Trust. 2018. “Battle of Tippecanoe Facts & Summary.” American
Battlefield Trust. July 2, 2018.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/war-1812/battles/tippecanoe

Editors, History com. 2009. “War of 1812.” HISTORY. October 27, 2009.
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/war-of-1812

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