Pros And Cons Of The Federalist Parties

In the upcoming US presidential election of 1800, John Adams, a member of the Federalist party, is running for reelection against Thomas Jefferson, a member of the Democratic-Republican party. John Adams favors a strong national power and limited state power. He believes that common people are incapable of governing themselves and is against too much individual freedom. The people who support him are high class citizens such as bankers, manufacturers, and merchants. On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson favors a weak national government and believes that the people are capable of ruling themselves. His main supporters are the lower class people such as small farmers, plantation owners, artists, and shopkeepers. John Adams of the Federalist party

Adams believes that the National Bank is necessary and beneficial to the government. Hamilton proposed this idea because the country needed to pay back war debts. It’s a safe place to deposit tax money and helps support the increase of trade and helps increase the use of paper money. The issue of the National Bank was a big argument in the country, the Federalists wanted to create the bank to help the economy of the United States while the Democratic-Republicans said that creating a bank probably will not make any difference and the power of creating a National Bank is not given to the government by the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton, one of the Federalist party leaders stated that: “ ‘Necessary’ often means no more than needful...useful…” Although, the National Bank is not necessary, the purpose of this bank is to have a strong country with an equally as strong economy. The benefits of having a National

He created the Alien & Sedition Acts which truly made the United States become a more secure country. The Alien Acts’ purpose is to protect the citizens from the aliens (immigrants or people who moved to the United States) and the Sedition Act is created to protect the government from slanders. Timothy Pickering had declared that: “...Because we have the right to speak and publish our opinions...we may exercise it in uttering falsehoods and calicious (mean) slanders.” The government has the right to express their opinions, so, naturally, the citizens should have a say as well. However, there is a difference between the freedom of speech and slander. Timothy Pickering had also stated: “The Constitution was established for the protection and security of American citizens.” This proves that the Federalists are trying to protect the citizens. Although the purpose of the acts were clearly listed, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson still opposed the acts, and claimed that these acts were meant to make the Democratic Republican party suffer because most of their votes come from immigrants. The Alien Acts also give the government the right to jail or deport aliens accused of causing trouble. This way, our country will be protected from trouble and can punish those with wrongdoings. John Adams put the safety of the country in first while Thomas Jefferson only cared about his