How Did Hamilton Contribute To The Formation Of Political Parties

In the farewell speech of George Washington (1796), the outgoing president warned that the creation of political factions "sharpened by the spirit of vengeance" would certainly lead to "formal and permanent despotism." Despite warnings from Washington, two of his closest advisers, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, helped form the factions that led to the dual party system in which the United States operates today. Other men, including James Madison and John Adams, also contributed to the formation of political parties, but Hamilton and Jefferson came to represent the divisions that shaped the national political landscape at the beginning.

Although both men had been active in the revolutionary effort and in the foundation of the United States, Jefferson and Hamilton did not work together until Washington appointed Jefferson as First Secretary of State and Hamilton as First Secretary Of the Treasury. From the beginning, the two men fed

All these measures have strengthened the power of the federal government at the expense of states. Jefferson and his political allies opposed these reforms. Francophile Jefferson feared that the Bank of the United States would represent too much English influence and he maintained that the Constitution did not give Congress the power to establish a bank. He does not believe that the promotion of manufactured goods is as important as the support of the agrarian base already established. Jefferson judged "those who work in the land" the "chosen people of God. . . Whose breasts have made her particular deposit for substantial and true virtue. "He advised his compatriots to" let our workshops remain in Europe.