Federalists and Republicans - Essay Example

 Federalists and RepublicansIntroductionOriginally, there existed only one party in America which was called the Federalists. This party was the only governing body in America. In 1793, another party emerged. The Republicans were also known as the Democratic-Republican Party. This party was formed as a result of Thomas Jefferson's resignation from the cabinet (Murrin and et al 56). His resignation was due to his opposition to the federalists’ policies which he insisted were based on corruption and oppression of the poor.

The two parties had huge differences as far as domestic and foreign policies were concerned. The Federalists aimed at enriching the wealthy class in the community whereas, The Republicans fought against the oppression of the poor and the middle class. In foreign policies, the core difference between the Federalists and the Republicans was the relationship America had with Britain and France. The Federalists wanted to strengthen the bond between America and Britain. On the other hand, the Republicans wanted to strengthen the relationship between America and France.

Domestic DifferencesThe main reason why Jefferson resigned to form the Republicans was mainly because he claimed the Federalists' aim was to enrich the wealthy people in the community and neglect the poor. In Massachusetts, the wealthy people wanted the poor to pay for the ongoing war and not them. Due to this, they raised the taxes (Murrin and et al 67). The taxes were very high that the poor could not afford to pay them. As a result, the rich used the opportunity and bought land from the poor at a very low cost.

The Republicans on the other hand believed in a federal government whereby they did believe that the middle class should be the core of America's economy. They supported several reforms in the government like the strict analysis of Americas Constitution, the strong support of the formation of a central government and the opposition of the national banking system. His opposition was backed by the poor and the middle class since he fought for a non corrupt body of governance. Foreign policies differences Federalists believed that the foreign policy of the government should favor the interests of Britain but the Republican believed otherwise.

The Democratic-Republican did favor the government which had taken the leadership in France in 1789. In 1795, the ratification of the Jay's Treaty which was named after John Jay was introduced. John Jay was the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The ratification sparked a lot of disagreements from the Federalists. The fur-trading places in the territories of Northwest were still under the control of the British who were accused of helping the Indians rebel against the Americans. Other than not permitting the American ships to engage with the West Indies in trade, the British troops were capturing American ships and their sailors.

In occurrence to this, Jay returned from England where he had been sent with a treaty which stated the deadline for the British to abandon the fur posts. This caused the U.S. to settle the debts of pre-Revolution to the British which was a total of $2.6 million. In 1796, the 'XYZ AFFAIR' was the weakness of the Federalists. The 'XYZ AFFAIR' had unsuccessful attempts to exact bribe for an international trade policy. France commenced attacking American ships leading to an American relationship with France collapse.

ConclusionJefferson's party, the Democratic Republican, was the party that had the best interest of all the members of the young government. The Federalists had the majority of supporters from one class, the wealthy class (Murrin and et al 80). The Republicans on the other hand were supported by individuals from all the three distinctive classes with the majority of supporters being the poor and the middle class. As a result of this, the Jefferson won the presidential seat in the 1800 presidential elections with majority seats in the Congress.

Works CitedMurrin, J and et al. Liberty, Equality and Power: A History of the American People, Volume I: To 1877, 6th Edition. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2012.