Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Federalists vs. Republicans


After learning about the first two political parties in the 1780's, which emerged during the American Revolution, I wondered which party system I would belong to. So, I decided to do additional research to learn about each party. The two parties were the Federalists and the republicans, who were exceedingly different in thought, design, and status of people involved.
The Republicans were known to be strict constructionists who rigorously followed the Constitution, while the Federalists were considered to be broad constructionists who widely interpreted the Constitution, keeping their interests in mind. After much research,  I was inclined to lean towards the Republican Party. 
Imagine it's the 1700's. The Federalist Party is a strong
government, established of a national bank, with a focus on industrialization. The Republican Party advocated states rights, opposition to a national bank with a focus on the common folk, and believed that the Constitution needed a bill of rights. So I ask you this: would you be a Federalist like Hamilton, a Republican like Madison, or belong to no party like Washington? What i find interesting, particularly about Washington's stance on political parties, is the fact he wanted to avoid an inevitable party system in America. Unfortunately, even when saying this, he was part of the first party system in United States politics. The first split of the party system came with the differentiation between the Federalists and the Republicans.

I concluded that I would be a Republican, because I believe in what they stand for, especially the fact that Individual rights are extremely important. Hamilton had his points, but in my opinion, the vision he had would be a corrupt government.

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