Transcript
Greetings, today I will talk about the second book in my United States History Series. The book covers the political parties from the beginning of the Republic until the eve of the Civil War. The first political parties to appear were the Federalists, the Anti Federalists, the Anti-Administration Party and the Democratic-Republican Party.
Federalists
Alexander Hamilton was one of the early founders of the Federalist Party while a member of George Washington’s administration as Secretary of the Treasury. The party essentially believed in a strong central government with implied powers, a strong banking system, promoting economic growth, friendly relations with Great Britain and diversification of the economy. The Federalist Party was the first political party that evolved in the United States and had many adherents, though John Adams was the only actual Federalist President. Washington seemed to favor the party’s policies, but did not join it, remaining neutral as far as political parties was concerned.
Anti-Administration Party
The Anti-Administration Party name has been coined by historians to describe the political faction that formed to oppose the policies of Alexander Hamilton. The group was never an official party, however. These Senators and Representatives typically voted in unison to oppose these policies and included the likes of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. Most members had opposed the ratification of the Constitution; however many had been proponents, including Jefferson and Madison.
Anti-Federalists
The Anti-Federalists comprised a large, varied group of people that opposed the ratification of the Constitution. These people had several concerns, that included:
Fear that the Constitution concentrated too much power in Congress
Fear that Congress would subjugate the states’ power
Fear that without a Bill of Rights the Constitution would allow the government to become tyrannical.
Fear that the Federal courts would subvert local courts
Fear that the Congress would institute a standing army
Fear that the Congress would impose confiscatory taxes and use the army to enforce them
Fear that the new government would gather increasing amounts of power until it completely dominated the people
Democratic-Republicans
Thomas Jefferson began assembling the elements that would become the Democratic-Republican Party early in George Washington’s first term while he served as Washington’s Secretary of State. The party is also known as the Jeffersonian Party and the Republican Party. The modern Republican Party has no ties to this early party. Jefferson disliked many of the Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton’s policies and his penchant for centralizing government. The Democratic-Republicans feared centralization of the government and feared giving it too much power. The Democratic-Republicans formed with ideals that included:
Commitment to States Rights
Strong relations with France
Belief that all Americans should own farms
That the United States should have an agricultural based economy
The voting franchise and right to hold elected office should extend to all white men that owned property, no matter how little
The merchants, farmers, and laborers of the new nation tended to favor the Democratic-Republican Party, sometimes called the Republican, or Jeffersonian, Party.
The book covers the presidential elections from 1792 through 1852. The book relates the political issues of the day, the candidates, both for president and vice president and includes short biographies of each of these men. It discusses the evolution of the modern Democratic Party out of the ashes of the old Democratic-Republican Party and the formation of the Whig Party. The United States has a tradition of smaller parties that spin out of the existing main parties, a tradition that began during the time frame of this books. Parties like the No Name Party, the Nullifier Party and the Anti-Masonic Party are just a few. The last section of the book leads into the period just before the Civil War and the formation of the anti-slavery Republican Party.
The book is part of my United State History Series. The other two books in the series are The History of the United States Constitution and Political Parties and the Political Parties and the Presidents – Book 2. The books are available in ebook, softbound and audio book format on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple and many other online book retailers.
You can find it on my web site, http://www.mossyfeetbooks.com.
Residents of southeast Indiana can find my books in Batesville at the Walnut Street Variety Shop on George Street
I hope you enjoyed this podcast and thank you for listening.
Mossy Feet Books 