Launching the New Ship of State Essay

“Many issues have contributed to the development of the two political parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Discuss how their views differed with regard to economic policy, foreign policy, and interpretation of the Constitution.”

As the national government was slowly trying to improve its self, Jefferson and Hamilton were caught up in a storm of political opposition. Because of this incessant rivalry, both men had their own followings. Jefferson and followers were known as the Jeffersonians or the Democratic Republicans, whereas Hamilton and his following were called the Federalists. In the aftermath of the American Revolution, the Democratic Republics and Federalist parties split politically because of their different positions on economic policy, foreign policy, and interpretation of the Constitution.

On the topics of economic policy, foreign policy, and the Constitution, economic policy was a major factor between the political parties. When Hamilton proposed Congress to “fund” the entire national debt “at par” and assume the debts acquired by the states in the Revolutionary War, Jefferson was not happy at all. To the Jeffersonians this was unfair because states like Virginia had small debts and so

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Although that was not a murdering rebellion, it made Washington think twice about this excise. To Jefferson, who followed the Constitution word by word, the creation of a national bank was entirely unconstitutional. Besides this assumption, Hamilton wanted to collect customs duties (derived from a tariff). Hamilton's Argument to justify his National Bank was that, the Constitution outlined the ends of society, justifying the means if they were necessary to achieve those ends. Both parties wanted foreign trade; they both realized that it was important commodity in the survival of America. Because the French helped the Americans in the Revolutionary War, to the Democratic-Republicans it was only fair to help them and side with them in their time of need. The Democratic-Republicans, adopted a strict constructionist view of the interpretation of the Constitution.

Regarding foreign policy, the Federalist and Democratic Republicans differed greatly, like on economic policies and their own interpretations of the Constitution. This enraged the Southerners where their taxes on whiskey were thought of as a luxury instead of what they really were, an economic necessity and in some parts, currency. In this case of political opposition, the two sides actually agreed on a compromise. Hamilton's view was termed loose-construction, while the interpretation of the constitution desired by James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson is known as Strict-construction. then they would have to help pay for the much larger debts of the northern states. The constitution was a document whereby statesmen could govern within succinctly defined borders. A legacy from Hamilton, which in his time was regarded as being a precedent of "vast consequence" by James Madison, the father of the Constitution, was Hamilton's own interpretation of the Constitution. Furthermore on economic policies, Hamilton wanted the establishment of a national bank.

Approximate Word count = 908
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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