The Struggle Between The Federalist And Jeffersonian Parties

When the Constitution was written in 1787 no one had expected the arisal of political parties. The first president of the United States, George Washington, even warned against “the danger of parties in the State” in his farewell address (Washington 1796). Yet, in what seemed like no time, two very different political parties had risen. The first of these parties to be created was the Federalist party which was lead by such men as Alexander Hamilton; The second party, which was created to oppose the Federalist party, was the Jeffersonian Democrat-Republican party. This party was headed mainly by Thomas Jefferson. There were three main developments that contributed to the split between the Federalist and Jeffersonian parties.

The first of these developments is today referred to as the XYZ affair. The XYZ affair was an undeclared war the U.S. fought with France. It started when President Adams sent three representatives to France to negotiate. Upon arrival the French Prime Minister, Talleyrand, demanded they pay him a personal bribe of 250 thousand dollars and loan of 15 million dollars to France (XYZ Affairs n.d.). Offended, the representatives left France and returned to the U.S. When the citizens of the U.S learned of …show more content…
Treasurer, Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton’s vision for this “Bank of the U.S.” was that it would create and issue a stable national currency and promote the development of industry in nation. Most support for this idea came from the northern states, while most of the opposition came from the southern ones. Jefferson strongly opposed the idea of a national bank stating that it was “unconstitutional” and that each state should have the right to establish its own currency, free from interference by the national government (Kennedy, Cohen, Bailey 2006). This led to even more of a separation of the