The definition of republicanism is “a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.” Republicanism is also the belief that the government will stand and continue to prosper. When one talks about Republicanism during the latter part of the nineteenth century great historical individuals such as Tomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, George Washington and all of the founding fathers who helped set up the republic of the United States come to mind.
The British colonies were not in the mindset to create an independent republic. However, the King of England might have pushed them to reason with the idea. In 1763, when the French and Indian War ended, King George the III issued a decree for the American colonists to not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. This was put into effect on October 7th of the same year. The motive behind this was that the people living on the west side of the mountains helped the French during the French and Indian War. He also did not like the idea of having the colonists befriend the Native people like the French had done. The King also wanted to keep the population along the Atlantic coast for defense if war broke out again. When this proclamation came to the people in the British colonies they were outraged. Since the war ended, most of the colonists desired the lands in the west and some had already made purchases on preferred land. Others had even established property grants for those who served or helped the English during the war against the French. Expansionists, like Thomas Jefferson, were also angry with the decree because they fought for growth and prosperity for ...
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...ther revolutionary war from the two political parties especially that most of congress at this time was federalist and Jefferson with the help of federalist Hamilton because Hamilton did not want the republicans to have Aaron burr became the party leader and help persuade others in congress that Jefferson was the right man for the job.
Jefferson however who enjoyed more time on his land and at his home in MonticelloWhen Jefferson came in office he was able to have a vision of what the country should and could be. A government that existed to protect liberty, not to grasp power for itself. He wanted the U.S. to be a great agricultural empire of liberty.
One cannot think about the Republican Party without talking about Thomas Jefferson the leader of the party. In Jefferson’s inaugural address he insisted that “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.”
During the American Revolution the not yet established United States, held two Continental Congresses that eventually help defeat Britain. The First Continental Congress informed the local militias to prepare for war. The Second Continental Congress helped end the war and issue the Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental congress sought out to create a national government for our new country named the Articles of Confederation. However, The Articles of Confederation had many problems, for example, Congress and the states shared the right to regulate currency and issue money. This led to an excess of currency, which pushed down the value of currency and created inflationary pressure on the Continental dollar. The downfall of the Articles of Confederation ultimately sparked a political conflict between
As the Constitution of 1787 was introduced, two political parties were present in Congress. One of them was the Federalists and the other was the Republicans. The Federalists were led by George Washington and John Adams. They were composed of elites and favored trading with Britain. Their supporters were mainly merchants, farmers, lawyers, and established political leaders. They believed that freedom “rested on the deference of authority” (Foner 288). The Republicans were led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. They believed in democratic self-government and favored agricultural. Their supporters composed mainly of farmers. Their goal was to establish a “limited government [that] allowed its citizens to be ‘free to regulate their own pursuits’” (Foner 303). According to Foner, “[The Republicans] were far more critical than the Federalists of social and economic inequality, and more accepting of broad democratic participation as essential to freedom” (Foner 289).
The Jeffersonian-Republicans (also known as the Democratic-Republicans) were opposed to the Federalists from before 1801-1817. Leaders Thomas Jefferson and James Madison created the party in order to oppose the economic and foreign policies of Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Party. The Democratic-Republicans supported the French, whereas the Federalists supported the British. Each party had its set of views. The Federalists supported a loose interpretation of the Constitution, a strong central government, high tariffs, a navy, military spending, a national debt, and a national bank (all ideas of the Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton). The Democratic-Republicans opposed all of the said ideas and fought for states' rights and the citizens to govern the nation. Originally, each of these parties stuck to their own views and ideas, but eventually would accept eachother's views and use them as their own.
Sectionalism can be described as loyalty specifically to one’s section or region. In terms of the United States, sectionalism refers to two major regions, the North and the South. It became a rising issue in the colonies in the 1800’s and undoubtedly aided in the start of the civil war. If one was to ask Northerners, they would blame the South and vice-versa. To be brutally honest, it was a combination of both regions and their extreme sectionalism that inevitably led to an American’s nightmare, a Civil War within the Union.
Before 1801, the Jeffersonian Republicans were usually strict constructionists of the constitution. However during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison they had to adopt some Federalist ideas. In many instances, the two parties completely interchanged their views on the construction of the constitution. During that period of time it was difficult to characterize anyone as a member of either the Federalist or Republican party based on how they interpreted the constitution.
After James Monroe’s second term as the fifth president of the United States ended, preparations were already underway for the next election to determine who would become the president. There were four prominent candidates running. They were Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford, and Andrew Jackson. John C. Calhoun, who was Secretary of War under Monroe, was originally thinking of running as president but dropped out in the hope of becoming Vice President. Clay was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Adams was the Secretary of State under President Monroe, Crawford was most notably Secretary of the Treasury under Monroe, and Jackson was a war hero during the War of 1812. For the first time, none of the men who were running for office identified as Federalists. A Federalist is someone who believes in a strong central government. All four men said that they were Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republicans, who were also known as the Republican party, generally opposed the viewpoints that the Federalists held. They believed in states’ rights; that is that the states should be more powerful than the National government....
Alexander Hamilton exerted the most influence in the new Federalist Party. He believed that only an enlightened ruling class could produce a stable and effective federal government. The government therefore needed the support of wealthy men. Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans defended more the rights of the common man and an agrarian society with little power from the federal government. His basic principle was "in general I believe the decisions of the people in a body will be more honest and more disinterested than those of wealthy men."
As the country grows and matures into a great nation, people realize that change is inevitable and sometimes even needed. Within the time period of 1802 to 1817, many Jeffersonian Republicans realized that their ideals and principles weren’t always best for the nation. That is why they adopted some of the ideals of the old Federalist Party. Also, during this time, the Federalists died out. As realized after the Hartford Convention, the nation did not need nor want the Federalists anymore if the Democratic Republicans could get the job done. Although people changed a great deal during this time, it seemed to be beneficial to the nation. If people had not grown and never continued to learn and aspire to what is needed, then we may have never gotten to this great nation that the United States of America is today.
The standard Democratic-Republican had many beliefs in which followed the Constitution whole heartily. Jefferson writes, "The true theory of our Constitution is surely the wisest and best that the states are independent as to everything within themselves, and united as to everything respecting foreign affairs"(Doc A). This belief that anything not mentioned within the Constitution was reserved for the states was represented the Democratic-Republican ideals a good deal. Thus, as in the Kentucky resolutions, both concluded that the federal government had exceeded its constitutional powers and that the states should not accept the Alien and Sedition Acts. Also, the Republicans strived for democracy; a weak central government; a rigid economy; the reduction of federalist office holders; state banks; relative freedom of the press and speech; concentration of agriculture in the South; minimal navy for coastal defense, which was achieved by Jefferson; and were primarily pro-French. These ideals were addressed during the Jefferson and Madison presidencies. However, in times of great crisis, the two presidents seemed to abandon their Democratic-Republican beliefs and lean towards a strong central government.
Thomas Jefferson has been a household name and has been greatly known by everyone in the United States since the late 1700’s. Not only was he present and play a crucial role in the American Revolution, but he also wrote the Declaration of independence and was also the third President of the United States. During his time as president his views and beliefs really countered the views of famous federalists of that time. (George Washington and John Adams) Jefferson had very passionate beliefs that favored the rights of the people and really gave the people and the states a lot more power than the Federalist Party believed they should have. “Jefferson’s political platform called for shrinking the infant
There were many men involved in the establishment of the government, the laws regulating states and people, and individual rights in the construction of the United States of America. Two men stand out as instrumental to our founding principles: Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson was an educated, articulate and accomplished man from a well-respected family. He had a great understanding of farming and of the relationship between man and his environment, working diligently to balance the two for the best interest of each. He “considered himself first and always a man of the land” (Jewett, 2005).
Thomas Jefferson on the other hand who became our nations third president, was a democratic-republicans (Jeffersonians). He was pro-French and believed in a strong state government, rather than a strong federal government. He believed in laissez-faire, in which every individual had their very own rights, and that the government should be kept as limited as possible. Despite the fact that Thomas Jefferson supports the French belief and was a democratic-republican, he had the support of many artisans and urban worker who had previously supported John Adams a...
By 1817 the great American experiment was in full swing. America was developing into an effective democratic nation. However as the democracy continued to grow, two opposing political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Federalists saw it differently. They opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. The seemingly solid divide between Federalist and Republican would begin to blur during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. For, neither Republican president was able lead the nation with purely republican ideals.
Throughout the period dating from 1801 to 1817, the United States government was primarily controlled by the Jeffersonian Republican party, whereas the Federalist Party began to slowly fade away from public view. The Jeffersonian Republican party, led by Thomas Jefferson, professed to favor a weak central government through the support of more states' rights, "...that the states are independent... to...themselves...and united as to everything respecting foreign nations." (Document A). The Federalists of the United States were known as the loose constructionists, where if there is something which the constitution does not state, then it should be allowed to be done. The Jeffersonian Republicans were known as strict constructionists for their views towards the constitution that if there is anything that is not in the constitution, then it cannot be done. The Jeffersonian Republican party centered many of their political moves on the basis of creating a strong agricultural society with a weakly centralized government where each of the states have more rights to govern themselves, where the Federalist party believed more strongly on industrializing the nation and creating a strong central government. Even though strict constructionism was the idea behind the Jeffersonian Republican party, both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both have evidence against them which can prove that they were not strict constructionists. This is based on different political moves made by these two presidents which are more towards the Federalist side of things opposed to their own Republican and strict constructionist ideas.
Jefferson’s beliefs in local self government created differences between himself and Alexander Hamilton which created the Federalists (Hamilton followers) and the Democrat Republican’s (Jefferson followers).