By: Seth Warren Heath

Federalism in early America

Early America was a land of constantly evolving political structures and ideas. Often times these opposing viewpoints would come into conflict. The primary opposing political ideologies of the day were those of the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist also called the Democratic Republicans and later referred to as Jeffersonian Republicans. The Federalist coalition consisted largely of landowners, merchants and the wealthy. The Anti-Federalist gaggle was comprised primarily of rural farmers and southern plantation owners. The main sticking points between these fledgling political parties involved distribution of power, interpretation of the constitution, how to conduct foreign affairs and domestic public policy issues.

The term Federalist first appeared during the ratification of the Constitution. By seizing the initiative the Federalist stuck their opposition with the name Anti-Federalist. The primary idea of the Federalist was the creation of a centralized government that would be capable of making choices concerning national affairs. The Anti-Federalist argued that this centralization gave too much power to a government that would be isolated from and out of touch with the people it ruled. They claimed that it was best to leave most of the power to the states and allow the local governing bodies to decide what best suited them. The Federalist countered that by creating such a broad base of power no single interest could garner too much power, they felt this was in the best interest of all the people of the country. The Constitution was ratified after the people of five states were promised a bill of rights provision would be added. This was not the end of political struggle in the developing United States. The next battle involved the interpretation of the new Constitution.

The first conflict regarding constitutional interpretation arose between secretary of state Thomas Jefferson and secretary of the treasury Alexander Hamilton. The disagreement concerned the establishment of a national bank. Jefferson argued a strict constructionist point of view stating that since the Constitution made no reference to a national bank there should not be one. Hamilton argued from the loose constructionist point of view saying the Constitution had not forbid a national bank therefore it was okay to create one. This debate was symbolic of the political infighting that was occurring inside the Washington administration over the national bank and other fiscal policies. These splits within the once strong Federalist coalition grew only wider during the approaching French Revolution, the first test of American foreign policy.

The French Revolution began in 1789 with the French general population attempting to topple the ruling monarchy and the aristocrats that accompanied it. The majority of the American public supported the French people. Soon the French Revolution turned brutal and the execution of aristocrats became commonplace. Some Americans began to question the legitimacy of the French Revolution and that doubt was compounded when the French engaged the English in war. At question was the Franco-American alliance of 1778 requiring America to support France in its war against Britain. Hamilton felt that the U.S. should support England since they had the most powerful navy and were our primary trading partner. Jefferson and Madison wanted the U.S. less dependant on foreign nations for growth. The situation was inflamed when an Ambassador from France, called by many “Citizen Genet”, traveled to America and proceeded to stir up support for the French cause. Before Genet could cause too much trouble the Washington administration decided the best course of action to declare neutrality in the current conflict between France and England. Genet then attempted to get congress to debate the issue of neutrality, unfortunate for Jefferson who had supported Genet. Jefferson condemned Genet’s actions but it was to little to late and Jefferson soon left the Washington administration. All of this bickering over foreign policy served to broaden the ideological separation between Washington, Hamilton and the Conservatives and Jefferson, Madison and the developing Jeffersonian Republicans.

The next challenge to the weakening Federalist coalition sprouted within their own borders. America continued to have problems fending off the Indians, ridding the territories of the British, developing a solid trade relationship with Spain and to top it all off England had declared a blockade of the West Indies. All of these problems coalesced with Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. The government had imposed an excise tax on whiskey in an attempt to raise money for the federal coffers but only stoked the flames of burning discontent among backcountry farm dwellers, many of which were sympathetic to Jefferson. Washington and the conservatives in power viewed this rebellion as treason and responded with a force of 13,000 soldiers. In the end the rebellion was quashed and Washington had demonstrated the Federalist resolve to maintain a national union and the importance of national over local community and loyalty. In late 1794 John Jay signed an agreement with the British. The conditions of the agreement led Jeffersonian partisans and other political entities opposed to Federalism to stage protest. Their contention was that the agreement gave preferential treatment to England and left France out in the cold. The disputes continued till the creation of Pinckney’s treaty. Pinckney’s treaty established a trade agreement with Spain that enabled U.S. farmers to use the Mississippi River for transport of their products. This new treaty eased the tensions between the Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans over the Jay treaty.

The conflict over the Jay treaty was the pivotal moment for the creation of political parties in America. Those that supported Hamilton and the Jay treaty had gathered under the banner of Federalist while the farmers, plantation owners and supporters of France had come together with Jefferson under the eventual title of Democratic Republicans. Eventually the two parties put candidates up for president and vice-president. The president would be the man with the most votes and the vice president would be the man who came in second. In the resulting election Adams won as the Federalist president and Jefferson as vice president for the Democratic Republicans. From this moment on the partisan system has existed in the United States, as has the debate between federalism and states rights.

Just as President Washington marched troops into western Pennsylvania so to did President Kennedy in Alabama. Washington did so to enforce a federal excise tax and Kennedy to enforce a Supreme Court ruling on segregation in public colleges. In order to understand the current political structure of the United States one must first understand the beginnings of political structure in the United States, one must understand federalism and states rights. The issue of federal power over that of the states has been prevalent in US history from the inception of the constitution, through the fight for civil rights, to the recent debate over hanging chads in Florida and will continue indefinitely.