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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 '''[[Democratic-Republican Party]]''' (or '''Jeffersonian Republican Party''') (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 Democratic-Republican Party split into the Jacksonian faction (which became the modern Democratic Party in the 1830s) and the [[Henry Clay]] faction which became the [[Whig Party]].
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 '''[[Democratic-Republican Party]]''' (or '''Jeffersonian Republican Party''') (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 Democratic-Republican Party split into the Jacksonian faction (which became the modern Democratic Party in the 1830s) and the [[Henry Clay]] faction which became the [[Whig Party]].
==Idea of a party system==
Hofstadter (1969) finds the “idea of a party system” in the pluralistic, antiparty attitudes in the young Republic, especially those of [[James Madison]], primary author of the Constitution (1788) and cofounder of the Republican Party (1793). Americans did not respect English parties of the 18th-century, which were shifting coalitions of politicians in Parliament and not based on the opinions of voters. Colonial American "pre-parties" practiced a vigorous, experience-yielding factionalism. However, deferential colonial politics (as in Virginia) elected men not for their proposals but for their reputation. Liberty and [[republicanism]], the basic values of the Founding Fathers, were to be protected by legislative checks since the checks of the political process were suspect. Ideally, two houses, rather than two parties, would check each other. In advocating the Constitution, antiparty thinkers such as Madison actually were establishing the major force in creating two great parties. Madison envisioned a pluralism among the parties rather than within them. He did not foresee parties as great, bland, enveloping coalitions. Because he feared the tyranny of a majority faction, Madison sought pluralism through a large republic and through majorities made up of weak, precarious coalitions. His view of pluralism owed much to his understanding of the liberties of religious dissent; parties were to resemble the multiplicity of religious sects, as in Virginia.<ref> Richard Hofstadter, ''The Idea of a Party System: The Rise of Legitimate Opposition in the United States, 1780-1840'' (1969). </ref>
==Washington Administration (1789–1797)==
==Washington Administration (1789–1797)==
At first there were no parties in the new nation. Factions soon formed around such dominant personalities as Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and Secretary of State [[Thomas Jefferson]], who opposed Hamilton's broad vision of a powerful government. Jefferson especially objected to Hamilton's flexible view of the [[U.S. Constitution|Constitution]], which Hamilton stretched to include a national bank. Washington was re-elected without opposition in 1792.
At first there were no parties in the new nation. Factions soon formed around such dominant personalities as Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and Secretary of State [[Thomas Jefferson]], who opposed Hamilton's broad vision of a powerful government. Jefferson especially objected to Hamilton's flexible view of the [[U.S. Constitution|Constitution]], which Hamilton stretched to include a national bank. Washington was re-elected without opposition in 1792.