Ghura 1
Karan Ghura
Period 6
Mrs. kofford
APUSH
November 10, 2017
“ Who were the federalists and republicans, and how did they differ over the meaning of liberty and the
power of national government? “
During the 1800s, there were two great ruling parties in the United States; Republicans
and Federalist. Both parties were in opposition to each other, so they had contradistinct
attitude to run the nation and different views on economic growth. The Federalists and the
Democratic Republicans were rather different in thoughts and status of people that were
involved. The first difference was that the Federalists were rather powerful and wealthy. The
main supporters of the Federalist Party were George Washington. Meanwhile, the Democratic
Republicans were farmers, small businessmen, and laborers. The first difference was that the
Democratic Republicans didn’t have so much money, being poorer than the Federalists. The
US south and west parts were most influenced by the Republicans as there was located the
majority of the farming population. The Republicans featured a strict constructionist view of
the Constitution’s interpretation.
The Democratic-Republican Party was formed by Thomas Jefferson and others who
believed in an agrarian-based, decentralized, democratic government. The party was
established to oppose the Federalists who had supported and pushed through the ratification
of the US Constitution. The party came into power with Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1801
and held the nation’s highest office through the election of Andrew Jackson in 1824.
Ghura 2
Jackson’s election was contentious, however, with the party dividing its support between him
and John Quincy Adams. Soon after the 1824 election, the party officially split into the
National Republicans and the Democratic Party.
The Federalist Party originated in opposition to the Democratic-Republi...
