The states feared that such a government would suppress them and would interfere with their internal affairs. Consequently, heated debates and uprisings characterize this period, which started with the framing of Articles in 1777 and ended with the final adoption of the United States constitution in 1787. The American Revolution holds a very prominent place in the history of this country, as it was the longest and the most painful war Americans ever encountered. It took many years and numerous conflicts to finally gain independence in 1776 from British domination, which had been subjugating its colonies with laws of an unwritten constitution. It must be understood that though Americans were fighting for the right of democracy and each state wanted self-government, later that same issue turned into a big problem.
Section 8 Chapter 5: The First American Party System Today, political parties are an authoritative and essential component of the United States political system. However, it is important to examine how the political parties began and evolved over hundreds of years, since they were first established. In 1794, the major political parties were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The major difference between these two was that the Federalists favored a strong central government, while the Democratic-Republicans preferred a central government with limited power and more state control. At the time of the election, it seemed that the prominent, distinguished Federalist Party clearly had the upper hand, but in the end the Democratic-Republican candidate ended up winning.
A revolution is defined as being a generally violent attempt by many people to end one rule of governing, and to create their own (Websters Dictionary). The founding of our own independent country is based on such a notion, with our forefathers fighting to gain their freedom from the oppressive rule of Colonial England. With rampant fears of tyranny from a country deemed a super power, the American people were divided in their views of creating their own government, making the definition of a revolution all the more difficult. The years 1775 to 1785 in American history were enormously fundamental to the founding of the United States. From the famous Battles of Lexington and Concord which started the war with England, to the drafting of our own Declaration of Independence from which the United States of America was born, the victorious battles fought against the Redcoats, and to the Treaty of Paris.
In addition by 1789, the path the present government was going from 1787 would have been clearly marked and thus opposition could have been definitely established with sufficient evidence of their actions, to criticise. In closing, it is fair to assert that the constitution and the constitutionality of the moves made by government were the main cause of the rise of the political party. The constitution always faced opposition, by 1789 it was still relatively new and thus how it would operate was yet to be established thus in the final decade of the 1700's was the initial start of conflictial ideologies and thus the feared split nation was given birth.
The simple turn of a century from the late 1700's to the 1800's brought about drastic change in regard to the United States government. Not only had the rebellious colonies overthrown the oppressive rule of their mother country Britain, but they had already begun to establish their own political domain. Within this realm of the newly founded democracy were two conflicting parties. On one side was the Jeffersonian Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson himself and later on by James Madison. Those who composed this legislative faction tended to believe in strong state governments, a feeble central government, and a rigid interpretation of the constitution.
After long nights and many debates the forefather's agreed upon drafting a new Constitution that would hold strong for future generations. The Constitution would provide a set of checks and balances to limit the new branches of the government and also contain a Bill of Rights that defined the most basic of rights for the people of America. Thirteen British colonies had asserted and established their their independence because they declared the form of government under which they had been living was destructive of their 'unalienable rights' of 'life , liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' (Farrand, 1913) After much mistreatment by the British government the colonists of America became weary of their leaders. During the Second Continental Congress the Declaration of Independence was drafted.
The Different American Political Parties There have been many different political parties since the beginning of the American political system. A political party is made up of a group of people that share common goals and ideals, and these people work together to help elect people to offices that share these goals to represent them. Political parties work to try to control the government and their ultimate goal is to win as many elections and to gain as many offices as possible. During the time when the Constitution was being debated over the first two political parties surfaced in the United States, the Federalists, and the Anti-Federalists. After the Constitution was ratified the Anti-Federalists, led by Thomas Jefferson, became the Democratic Republicans.
In 1774, the First Continental Congress met and formed and began to raise issues which would later stimulant local organizations to end their fidelity for England. However, not everyone favored the revolutionary moveme... ... middle of paper ... ... to using arms after a decade of fighting verbally, was because both sides finally became aware that force alone would decide on the issues which divided the empire. In April 1775, the battle of Lexington occurred, closely followed by the battle of Concord. “These two very important bloodshed served to evoke the sprit of the American patriotism”. The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775 and George Washington was elected commander of the patriotic forces.
Towards the end of the Revolutionary War, the people felt they needed a document to secure their independence from Britain. This document was the Articles of Confederation. Shortly after that, a new document was formed to what we know as the Constitution of the United States. These documents were similar but more different at the same time with each other, and each granted specific powers to the national government. By throwing off the British monarchy it left the states without a central government.
The Anti-Federalist called for another convention to outline a Bill of Rights before the Constitution was approved. The Federalist, fearing that the progress would unravel completely, urged immediate ratification. With the understanding of a Bill of Rights to follow later. Eventually the Federalist prevailed. By 1788, eleven states had ratified the Constitution.