Federalist Party

Until the second half of the twentieth century, most historians essentially ignored the Federalist Party, declaring it obsolete after the presidential election of 1800. That election ousted President John Adams and placed Thomas Jefferson, his chief rival, in the White House. At the national level, the Federalist Party came to be seen as out of touch with the realities of everyday life and unaware of the needs of the common people. In general, Federalists were either wealthy men who owned a good deal of property or small farmers and businessmen. The Democratic-Republican Party emerged to represent the interests of other Americans.

Both the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republicans held clearly defined positions on political issues of the day. Under the influence of Alexander Hamilton, a protégé of George Washington’s and the first secretary of the treasury, Federalists tended to favor strong central government, supported merchant capitalism, and favored the British in foreign policy. Under the guidance of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Democratic-Republicans believed that states should retain strong powers, were supportive of agrarianism, and tended to favor France over Britain in foreign policy. The Federalists also emphasized hierarchy, stability, and order rather than the egalitarianism favored by the Democratic-Republicans. While it is true that the Federalist Party never won another presidential election after 1796, the party continued to flourish at the state and local level until around 1816.

Overview

When George Washington was elected the first president of the United States in 1789, formal political parties had not formed yet. Two years earlier, when seeking support for ratification of the United States Constitution, James Madison had warned in "Federalist No. 10" that parties, or "factions," were inevitable in a free society because of the unequal distribution of property. Madison was proved right as the political landscape of the new country emerged. In 1795, Federalists formed the first party caucus in Congress and ensured passage of the Jay Treaty, which settled issues between Great Britain and the United States left over from the American Revolution; this treaty became emblematic of Federalist pro-British and pro-trade sentiment, and was strenuously opposed by anti-Federalists, setting the stage for the first round of US party politics. When leaving office in 1796, George Washington echoed James Madison in warning about the dangers of factions.

When John Adams, a Federalist, was elected the second president in 1796, the Federalists also gained a majority in both houses of Congress. Federalists, who were strongest in New England, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland, also controlled eight state legislatures and ten governorships. By 1798, Federalists in Congress, acting in response to the Quasi-War with France, but also afraid of growing dissatisfaction with the party, passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which made it a violation of federal law to make false statements against the government and its policies. The acts also increased the residency requirements for immigrants to gain citizenship from five to fourteen years, partly in recognition of the fact that new immigrants were more supportive of the Democratic-Republicans than of the Federalists.

The election of 1800 dealt a major blow to the Federalist Party, with Adams losing to Jefferson and the Federalists losing their majorities in Congress. The party also lost control of all but three state legislatures and five governorships, and losses in 1804 were even greater. During the Jefferson administration, the Federalists were particularly critical of his acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, which they saw as the height of folly. Jefferson had purchased the area from the French in 1803 for $15 million, doubling the size of the United States.

In 1807, the fortunes of the Federalist Party shifted in response to passage of the Embargo Act, a reaction to the seizing of American ships and sailors by both Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars, despite American neutrality. The economy in the northeast began to decline after trade with Britain was cut off, making the embargo highly unpopular. Even though trade with all other countries resumed in 1809 with passage of the Non-Intercourse Act, the Federalists attempted to seize the opportunity to revive the party.

The War of 1812, which pitted the United States against Britain for a second time as America sought to assert its right to international trade, gave the Federalist Party new influence as a voice for antiwar sentiment. Federalists disparagingly labeled the conflict "Mr. Madison’s War"; some in the party overplayed their hand, however, as a few radical Federalists, led by former secretary of state Timothy Pickering, called for New England to secede from the Union and make a separate peace with Great Britain. This move came right at the end of the conflict, as key American victories stirred patriotic sentiment and made Federalist opposition look disloyal. The war ended in 1814, and interest in the Federalist Party declined thereafter, although the party remained a force in some state legislatures well into the 1820s.

Impact

The Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party were the first two major political parties in the United States, and the era of their struggle for control became known as the First Party System, lasting from the early 1790s to the mid-1820s. The Federalists played an important role in establishing a strong central government for the young United States, and as the party of business and finance, they helped put the government on a firm financial footing. Though controversial, Alexander Hamilton’s espousal of a central bank for the United States was strongly supported by the Federalists, as were tariffs and other trade policies favorable to the United States.

Bibliography

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Dzurec, David. "Of Salt Mountains, Prairie Dogs, and Horned Frogs." Journal of the Early Republic 35.1 (2015): 79–108. Print.

Fischer, David Hackett. The Revolution of American Conservatism: The Federalist Party in the Era of Jeffersonian Democracy. New York: Harper, 1965. Print.

Hormell, Orren Chalmer. The Attitude of the Federalist Party toward the War of 1812. Miami: General, 2013. Print.

Lampi, Philip J. "The Federalist Party Resurgence, 1808–1816. Journal of the Early Republic 33.2 (2013): 255–81. Print.

Morin, Isobel V. Politics, American Style: Political Parties in American History. Brookfield: Twenty-First Century, 1999. Print.

Robertson, David Brian. Federalism and the Making of America. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print.

Wilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. New York: Norton, 2005. Print.