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The '''First Party System''' is the term political scientists and historians give to the political system governing the United States between 1792 and the early 1820s. It featured two national parties that competed for control of the Presidency, Congress, and the states: the '''[[Federalist Party]]''' created by [[Alexander Hamilton]], and the '''[[Jeffersonian Republicans]]''' created by [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[James Madison]]. Partisan politics virtually ended during the [[Era of Good Feelings]] (1816-1824), as the Federalists shrank to a few isolated strongholds. In 1824-28, as the [[Second Party System]] emerged, the Republicans split into the Jacksonian faction (which became the modern Democratic Party in the 1830s) and the [[Henry Clay]] faction which became the [[Whig Party]]. Throughout the period the two parties contested elections vigorously, but if defeated they did not rebel. Instead they formed an opposition that vetted the programs of the dominant party and attempted to build a winning coalition for the next election.

The '''First Party System''' is the term political scientists and historians give to the political system governing the United States between 1792 and 1828. It featured two national parties that competed for control of the Presidency, Congress, and the states: the '''[[Federalist Party]]''' created by [[Alexander Hamilton]], and the '''[[Jeffersonian Republicans]]''' created by [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[James Madison]]. Partisan politics virtually ended during the [[Era of Good Feelings]] (1816-1824), as the Federalists shrank to a few isolated strongholds. In 1824-28, as the [[Second Party System]] emerged, the Republicans split into the Jacksonian faction (which became the modern Democratic Party in the 1830s) and the [[Henry Clay]] faction which became the [[Whig Party]]. Throughout the period the two parties contested elections vigorously, but if defeated they did not rebel. Instead they formed an opposition that vetted the programs of the dominant party and attempted to build a winning coalition for the next election.

==Idea of a party system==

==Idea of a party system==

==Newspapers as party weapons==

==Newspapers as party weapons==

[[Newspaper]]s became party weapons. [[John Fenno]] began publishing his ''Gazette of the United States'' in April 1789 hoping it would become the official paper of the new government; soon Hamilton was encouraging and subsidizing him. Jefferson and Madison persuaded [[Philip M. Freneau]], a brilliant poet, to found the ''National Gazette'' in Philadelphia in October 1791. The ''National Gazette'' at first served as a successful political tool for the Jeffersonians as it defined arguments against Hamilton's policies while rebutting Fenno's editorials. The ''National Gazette'' collapsed in 1793 due to weak circulation and the political fallout over Jefferson and Madison's financial involvement in founding the paper.  

[[Newspaper]]s became party weapons. [[John Fenno]] began publishing his ''Gazette of the United States'' in April 1789 hoping it would become the official paper of the new government; soon Hamilton was encouraging and subsidizing him. Jefferson and Madison persuaded [[Philip M. Freneau]], a brilliant poet, to found the ''National Gazette'' in Philadelphia in October 1791. The ''National Gazette'' at first served as a successful political tool for the Jeffersonians as it defined arguments against Hamilton's policies while rebutting Fenno's editorials. The ''National Gazette'' collapsed in 1793 due to weak circulation and the political fallout over Jefferson and Madison's financial involvement in founding the paper.  

[[Image:NEWS1800.JPG|thumb|left|rapid growth of party newspapers]]

[[Image:NEWS1800.JPG|thumb|left|rapid growth of party newspapers]]

==Legitimacy of a party system==

==Legitimacy of a party system==

[[Alexander Hamilton]] felt that only by mobilizing its supporters on a daily basis in every state on many issues could support for the government be sustained through thick and thin. Newspapers were needed to communicate inside the party; patronage helped the party's leaders and made new friends. Hamilton, and especially Washington, distrusted the idea of an opposition party, as shown in [[George Washington]]'s "Farewell Address" of 1796. They thought opposition parties would only weaken the nation. By contrast Jefferson was the main force behind the creation and continuity of an opposition party.  He deeply felt the Federalists represented aristocratic forces hostile to true republicanism and the true will of the people, as he explained in a letter to Henry Lee in 1824:

[[Alexander Hamilton]] felt that only by mobilizing its supporters on a daily basis in every state on many issues could support for the government be sustained through thick and thin. Newspapers were needed to communicate inside the party; patronage helped the party's leaders and made new friends. Hamilton, and especially Washington, distrusted the idea of an opposition party, as shown in [[George Washington]]'s "Farewell Address" of 1796. They thought opposition parties would only weaken the nation. By contrast Jefferson was the main force behind the creation and continuity of an opposition party.  He deeply felt the Federalists represented aristocratic forces hostile to true republicanism and the true will of the people, as he explained in a letter to Henry Lee in 1824:

{{cquote|Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties: 1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depositary of the public interests. In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves. Call them, therefore, liberals and serviles, Jacobins and Ultras, whigs and tories, republicans and federalists, aristocrats and democrats, or by whatever name you please, they are the same parties still and pursue the same object. The last appellation of aristocrats and democrats is the true one expressing the essence of all."}}

{{cquote|Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties: 1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depositary of the public interests. In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves. Call them, therefore, liberals and serviles, Jacobins and Ultras, whigs and tories, republicans and federalists, aristocrats and democrats, or by whatever name you please, they are the same parties still and pursue the same object. The last appellation of aristocrats and democrats is the true one expressing the essence of all."}}

==Bibliography ==

==Bibliography ==

* ''Encyclopedia of the New American Nation, 1754–1829'' ed. by Paul Finkelman (2005), 1600 pp.  

* ''Encyclopedia of the New American Nation, 1754–1829'' ed. by Paul Finkelman (2005), 1600 pp.  

* Banning, Lance. ''The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology'' (1978) [http://www.amazon.com/Jeffersonian-Persuasion-Evolution-Party-Ideology/dp/0801492009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195466092&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

* Banning, Lance. ''The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology'' (1978) [https://www.amazon.com/Jeffersonian-Persuasion-Evolution-Party-Ideology/dp/0801492009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195466092&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

* Ben-Atar, Doron and Barbara B. Oberg, eds. ''Federalists Reconsidered'' (1999), topical essays by scholars

* Ben-Atar, Doron and Barbara B. Oberg, eds. ''Federalists Reconsidered'' (1999), topical essays by scholars

* Beard, Charles A. ''The Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy'' (1915) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65989719 online edition]

* Beard, Charles A. ''The Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy'' (1915) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65989719 online edition]

* Goodman, Paul. "The First American Party System" in William Nisbet Chambers and Walter Dean Burnham, eds. ''The American Party Systems: Stages of Political Development'' (1967), 56–89.

* Goodman, Paul. "The First American Party System" in William Nisbet Chambers and Walter Dean Burnham, eds. ''The American Party Systems: Stages of Political Development'' (1967), 56–89.

* Hoadley, John F. "the Emergence of Political Parties in Congress, 1789-1803." ''American Political Science Review'' (1980) 74(3): 757-779. ISSN 0003-0554 Fulltext in Jstor. Looks at the agreement among members of Congress in their roll-call voting records. Multidimensional scaling shows the increased clustering of congressmen into two party blocs from 1789 to 1803, especially after the Jay Treaty debate; shows politics was moving away from sectionalism to organized parties.  

* Hoadley, John F. "the Emergence of Political Parties in Congress, 1789-1803." ''American Political Science Review'' (1980) 74(3): 757-779. ISSN 0003-0554 Fulltext in Jstor. Looks at the agreement among members of Congress in their roll-call voting records. Multidimensional scaling shows the increased clustering of congressmen into two party blocs from 1789 to 1803, especially after the Jay Treaty debate; shows politics was moving away from sectionalism to organized parties.  

* Hofstadter, Richard. ''The Idea of a Party System: The Rise of Legitimate Opposition in the United States, 1780-1840'' (1970) [http://www.amazon.com/Idea-Party-System-Legitimate-Opposition/dp/0520017544/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195466141&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

* Hofstadter, Richard. ''The Idea of a Party System: The Rise of Legitimate Opposition in the United States, 1780-1840'' (1970) [https://www.amazon.com/Idea-Party-System-Legitimate-Opposition/dp/0520017544/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195466141&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

* Keller, Morton. ''America's Three Regimes: A New Political History'' (2007) 384pp.

* Keller, Morton. ''America's Three Regimes: A New Political History'' (2007) 384pp.

* Kerber, Linda K. ''Federalists in Dissent: Imagery and ideology in Jeffersonian America'' (1970)

* Kerber, Linda K. ''Federalists in Dissent: Imagery and ideology in Jeffersonian America'' (1970)