The Federalists and Democratic-Republicans were the first political parties to compete in the election in 1796. The 1796 election was the first election in American history were two opposite parties run for office. Both the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans adopted their titles from what they valued and believed in. The Federalists believed that the other party was irrational and dangerous to the United States government. The Democratic-Republicans accused the Federalists of being aristocrats. Throughout this learning endeavor you will understand the views of each party and exactly what set the political parties apart. Let us begin with the Federalists party and their political views. After the downfall of the Article of Confederation, …show more content…
The Federalists believed that citizens were incapable of a self-government and wanted a strong central government. The Democrat-Republicans firmly believed in state rights and low voting qualifications. The Federalists wanted high voting qualifications, limiting the number of citizens who could vote. On domestic policy issues, the Federalists were for a national bank while Democrat-Republicans opposed one. Federalists supported excise taxes but the Democrat-Republicans were against excise taxes. The Federalists party believed that a national debt was beneficial to America but the Democrat-Republicans thought otherwise. Federalists wanted high tariffs and the Democrat-Republicans wanted lower tariffs. As far as state debts, the Democrat-Republicans preferred that each individual state be responsible for their own debts and should be obligated to pay them off their selves. The Federalists, who we should know by now, are confident in the national government believed that state debts should be taken care of properly by the national government. The Democrat-Republicans wanted a strict construction of the constitution with state’s rights over the national government. The Federalists supported a strong government over the states with loose construction of the constitution regarding the government. With so many differences in political views one will ask will these two parties come to any type of