Political Parties In The 1790s Essay

The existence of political parties can be dated back to the pre-revolutionary Whigs and Tories that arrived to the colonies from Great Britain. As the need for a division in politics subsided, these parties became less official factions. However, when the issues of the territory began to change, the presence of factions began to change. The evolution of factions into rivaling political parties in the 1790s resulted from contrasting views between Thomas Jefferson’s Republicans and Alexander Hamilton’s Federalists due to different beliefs in regards to the Constitution’s power and the impact of foreign policy and economic growth on the young United States. The Federalists were the first group to control the government of the United States and the accomplishments of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams defined the party. On the other hand, distinguished men like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison fought to turn over the government into the hands of the Democratic-Republicans. The vast differences between the groups mentioned are direct …show more content…
However, this statement is highly contestable. After George Washington’s term, tensions between politicians grew and the Democratic-Republican and Federalist parties formed to continue to grow the nation. The opposition may say that since Jefferson displayed many Federalist principles during his service there were no true political parties yet. On the other hand, Jefferson repealed the Excise Tax because it was created to benefit the wealthy class Federalists. Jefferson’s lower class agrarians were therefore punished by the tax. His ability to repeal the tax demonstrates the existence of two distinct political parties that arose from the