Compare And Contrast Federalist And Federalists

1438 Words3 Pages

The Federalist and the Democratic-Republicans were both loyal Americans who sought to empower the United States and wanted nothing more than to see the young nation flourish and grow. But they differed in their philosophy of how the country would be led to thrive. The main differences between them were that the Federalist favored a strong central government, while the Democratic-Republicans favored a strong state government. Another fundamental difference was their idea on how the Constitution was to be interpreted and executed. These core differences led to disagreement over the establishment of the federal bank, and set the ground for a very heated and emotional campaign on the 1800 election. The major issues that ruled this election were …show more content…

The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by the Federalists who had control of congress, in an effort to foster unity during the Quasi-War. The Democratic-Republicans were completely against the Alien and Sedition Acts because it included harsh suppression of protest among American citizens. These acts made it illegal to oppose or deprecate the government or the president in any manner, such as writing, speaking, publishing, etc. The punishment for breaking this law included fines, and imprisonment. The Alien and Sedition Act also had clauses that affected foreigners, making it easier to deport them and harder for them to vote by increasing the minimum years of residence necessary from 5 to 14 years. The harsh clause against foreigners was the Federalists effort to protect the nation from “aliens” living in the United States who might sympathize with France during the Quasi-War. It just so happen that these “aliens” tended to concur with and supported the Democratic-Republicans. The Alien and Sedition Acts were responsible for many Democratic-Republicans supporters, and some newspaper editors to be arrested and even imprisoned. The Democratic-Republicans felt that the Alien and Sedition Act violated the citizens’ freedom of speech, and the country agreed, as the Federalists lost the 1800 election, leading to a peaceful exchange of power that proved that our system

Open Document