The History Of United States Essay Example for Free

The History Of United States Essay The differences between the federalists led by Alexander Hamilton and republicans under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson shaped the political and economic direction of America in their day. This paper asserts that these differences were determined by individual perceptions that gave birth to these ideological differences. When faced with the responsibility of leading the country, Jefferson embraced some of Hamilton’s ideas. Alexander Hamilton the federalist was born in the West Indies on 11th of January 1757. His party the Federalist Party was formed in 1792 and lasted all the way up to 1816. This was the first party to be formed in America On the other hand we have Thomas Jefferson who was the third president to rule United States of America and was born in 1743 in Virginia. He was very influential in laying the foundation for Republicanism. Unfortunately, the two leaders had very little in common. Jefferson’s Democratic Republican party was formed in 1792 with a motive of opposing Hamilton’s economic and monetary views but the party split in 1820s because of the party differences. He died on 4th July, 1826. Their philosophies on social, political, and economy were very different. For example they disagreed on the system of government, constitution and the funding of the federal government. The main focus of this paper will be to compare the similarities and differences between the social, economic and political philosophies of Alexander Hamilton and Federalism on one hand and Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic Republicans on the other. The paper will also try to look at why these political functions emerged, how the leaders viewed each other and from what segments of society they drew support from. Hamilton was a very strong advocate of a stable and strong centralized government and worked hard to convince the congress to enact laws that would facilitate its formation. He was basically talking about how this government could be financed, how a national bank would be created and where taxes will be obtained from for example, from imports and on whiskey. He was strongly inspired by British’s trade and its financial base. On the other hand Thomas Jefferson formed his Democratic-Republican Party which later came to be regarded as Republican Party to oppose the federalists view on economic and foreign policies such as the formation of a central government. They opposed Hamilton for proposing the extension of trade and other friendly business with foreign countries such as Britain. About the constitution, Hamilton wanted the constitution to be loosely interpreted while Thomas Jefferson and his party believed on strong and strict constitutional formation that would limit the judicial interpretations. They were opposed to the issue of forming a national government which they dismissed as unconstitutional. They also differed in the type of government they wanted for example Hamilton wanted a balanced economy with industries, agriculture and trade while Jefferson believed that the country could only be supported by the work of the common man. Hamilton since 1795 advocated for the promotion of trade to other parts. He also wanted international cooperation with Britain to be supported. Additionally, Hamilton wanted U. S to embrace a policy of tax collection and a national bank to cater for national debts while on the other hand the democratic Republican Party was against this although after the war in 1812, this party split after they were defeated, many young leaders who were against Hamilton’s idea of nationalism supported it and started advocating for strong military defense which they had in the past opposed. (Albert W. F. , 1984). Although Hamilton and Jefferson differed in many things, later Jefferson welcomed Hamilton policies. For example, after the former won the presidential elections of 1800. His strong opponents like Gallatin and Madison started adopting some of Hamilton’s policies like the formation of a national bank. They also started forming strong military base something that came into their mind soon after they lost in the war of 1812. They also embraced Hamilton’s policy of being flexible in interpreting the constitution. This is what is referred to as loose interpretation or using basket clause. Also the tariff policy so as be able to finance the federal government was adopted. Another thing borrowed from Hamilton was the issue of forming a strong standing army as well as the country’s economy that would be supported by the federal government. These both factions had different origins. The Democratic Republican Party originated from Philadelphia among the congressmen. In the beginning it was called the Republican Party but later, it was widely marketed in New York by Thomas Jefferson who included the states and other leaders from different localities. His party strongly advocated for liberty for all. On the other hand the Federalist Party was created by Hamilton alone and become its leader it relied on for urbanites it was the first to be formed in USA. Some saw it as people’s party while others criticized that it had a very weak connection with the masses. The Federalist Party started after Hamilton was appointed to the office by George Washington who was the then president. By this time he was a retired staff member. Hamilton wanted a federal government with a strong financial base. He went ahead and proposed his own economic program. He wanted the central government to cancel the debts that the sates occurred during the Revolutionary war of America and there by replacing it with a national debt. That is a debt that would be paid by the central government itself. He believed this would have only been possible if there was formed a national bank. His closest friend Madison left him and went to cater for his people in Virginia thus dropping the idea of nationalism. He later joined Jefferson in opposing Hamilton’s ideas. In 1790 Hamilton relentlessly started looking for followers countrywide. He believed that if he mobilized likeminded people and use his treasury networks to bring together all those people in the government like bankers and merchants, then he could make it. He began his politics in urban areas and as time went by, the party assumed a national identity and eventually became the Federalist Party. On the other hand, the Democratic Republican party was founded by two people that is, Jefferson and James Madison sometimes back in 1792. The party was formed with a motive of opposing Hamilton’s views on the economy and foreign policies. The foreign policies were of prime concern to the republicans. Hamilton wanted U. S to start having friendly relations with Britain and his party strongly condemned the French revolution. Jefferson’s party put ahead of all other things the freedom of Yeoman farmers and rights as opposed to federalism. He differed in Hamilton’s ideas on monetary things, national bank, creation and high spending in the military. In1790s the federalist and republicans traded abuse through newspapers. Hamilton was seen as a monarchist who never valued the American culture. He was accused of favouring the rich so that they could support his politics. Later they turned to using humors against each other. They opposed the treaty of 1784, Jay’s treaty that advocated for having relations with Britain and criticized the French revolution. They termed Britain and France as their archenemies. Jefferson and his supporters claimed federalism favored aristocracy instead of the ordinary people. However, after1812 Jefferson’s party split into two because of party differences. The young leaders in his party favored nationalism and creation of a strong army that would provide security to the Americans but Thomas Jefferson and his clues refused this. These younger leaders were Clay, Adams and Calhoun while the old party was headed by Randolph, Crawford and Nathaniel Macon. Both sides differed in beliefs which made them to support different factions. The later backed Andrew Jackson. After elections were held these factions became separate parties. The one for Jackson became the modern Democratic Party. The federalism party that was formed by Hamilton drew its support from all over but mainly from urbanites that would support his policies. Hamilton’s party had a lot of job opportunities thus it was able to attract many people while did not have many job opportunities. Jefferson drew his party support from the rurals whom he believed were the backbone of his party. . Alexander Hamilton firmly advocated for the government intervention and support in trade. He never advocated for free trade like it was the case in Britain for he believed this led to misuse of funds by channeling them to colonial powers. He believed that if his policies were implemented, then the economy would grow into stable heights. Hamilton was an orthodox although not a very strong believer. He did not believe that Christianity and democracy could go hand in hand. Hamilton misused religion to meet his political objectives especially during the revolution in France. To conclude, it can be said that Jefferson and Hamilton differed in many ways than they had in common. In the past they disagreed almost in everything but later Jefferson and the Democratic- Republicans changed their minds and embraced some his policies especially after they lost in war of 1812. His political party split because young leaders in his party like Clay and Adams supported the idea of nationalism and the creation of a strong army which the other faction in the party opposed. Finally after elections were held the two factions became parties. Jefferson’s party which was under Jackson became the Democratic Party while that for the youngsters faded after the civil war. After this, democrats welcomed some of Hamilton’s ideas such as having a strong central government as well as strong military base and an economy that would be controlled by the federal government. Jefferson believed in strict interpretation of the constitution that would limit the judiciary misinterpretation and Hamilton’s idea of creating a bank that would handle all financial cases of the central or federal government. This idea was also rejected by the representatives of the southern colonies whose economy did not favor the creation of a national bank. In short we can say that even in areas that they came to think alike, it was after they lost the war of 1812. The party became divided and the two parties went on their own. Reference: Albert W. F. , 1984. The Authority of Publius: A reading of the Federalist Papers. Ithaca, New York: Cornel University Press.