1. Political Parties

2. Who needs political parties anyway? When the US first began, there were no political parties. In fact, most people did not want political parties. Americans had seen the British political parties, and knew how bad they could be. In England, the parties often plotted to win government favors or bribes. Americans saw political parties as threats to national unity. As much as people said they did not want them, it did not take long for political differences would birth political parties. Two parties sprang up led by two very different people: Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.

3. Republicans vs. Federalists Hamilton and Jefferson disagreed on almost everything. Hamilton thought that the United States should focus on manufacturing as our main source of income. Jefferson thought we should focus on farming and agriculture. Hamilton wanted a strong federal government and Jefferson wanted strong state governments. Hamilton preferred a loose interpretation of the constitution, and Jefferson preferred a very strict interpretation of the constitution. Finally, the two leaders disagreed over foreign policy. Hamilton wanted close ties with Britain, a major trading partner. Jefferson favored France, the first ally of the United States. The two parties that emerged were the Republicans (led by Jefferson) and the Federalists (led by Hamilton). As party rivalries grew, newly formed newspapers took sides. Newspapers had great influence on public opinion. Often, articles mixed rumor and opinion with facts. Emotional attacks and counter-attacks fanned the flames of party rivalry.

4. Who’s Going to Win (the suspense is killing me!!) As the election came to pick George Washington’s successor, the parties each had a candidate that they were backing. The republicans backed Thomas Jefferson for President and Aaron Burr for Vice President. The Federalists supported John Adams for President and Thomas Pinckney for Vice President. Elections were different back then, though. The person who got the most votes got to be president, and the person who got the second most votes got to be vice president. So, John Adams of the Federalist party became president, and Thomas Jefferson of the Republican party became vice president. Having the white house divided like this only worked to more deeply divide the country. I didn’t see that coming!!