Elieth Serrano-Ortega
HIS 166 (86287)
Essay #3 due October 29, 2015
What were competing visions for the new American Republic, as expressed by Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson?
In the 1790s, a two-party system emerged rapidly. The division reflected significant disagreement over the makeup of the new nation, how powerful it wanted to be and how it should perform relations with foreign countries. Thomas Jefferson stood at the helm of one of these parties, and Alexander Hamilton stood up front in the other party. There were several differences that distinguished the two parties, including money matters, debt assumption, and foreign policy. Disagreements over the future of the nation under the new Constitution started with money
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The two groups were called the Federalists, who were led by Hamilton, and the Republicans, who were led by Jefferson and Madison. Republicans valued an agrarian society of independent landowners and sough to protect those interests against the demands of urban merchants and financiers. The Federalists on the other hand, favored a strong national government and envisioned a commercial economy operating out of thriving cities, securing financial confidence in its new government, and earning the nation international respect. Federalists feared the threat of too much democracy and the Republicans worried about a reversion to monarchy. In the area of foreign relations, the Republicans favored France, whereas Federalists sympathized with Britain. This division reflected different understandings of the legacy of the American Revolution and played out in different responses to two other revolutionary movements that drew immediate inspiration from the United States. The Haitian Revolution and the French Revolution tested the limits of the founders’ beliefs in democracy and