What Was The Difference Between Federalist And Democratic-Republicans

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Soon after the American constitution was established, the first political parties were created. During the beginning stages of our nation there were many problems that were faced and not much was agreed on. The first two parties that emerged were the Federalist party and the Democratic-Republican Party. Both the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans had very different views for the government and the country. The Federalists believed in a loose construction of the Constitution while the Democratic-Republicans believed in a strict construction. The Federalists thought that if the constitution did not specifically say the government couldn't do something than they could do it. Their theory was that this would make the government strong, which would lead to a powerful and influential nation. On the contrary, the Democratic-Republicans believed that if the constitution did not specifically state that the government could do something they could not do it. They were afraid that if the …show more content…

The Federalists thought that the path to greatness was to have a strong economy and to support the growth of businesses and trade. Their idea was to create a national bank that would collect taxes, print the national currency, and give loans for the building of new ships and factories. The Democratic-Republicans were in great opposition to this because it was “unconstitutional” and would hurt the farmers. A Democratic-Republican leader named Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, If ever He had a chosen people.” They wanted the economy to be based on agriculture. The National Bank would not give loans to farmers trying to buy new land, but it would give loans to business people looking to expand trade and production. Although there was much resistance to the National Bank, Congress approved the idea, and the Bank of the United States was established in