First Party System - Revision history

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← Older revision		Revision as of 02:29, June 7, 2021
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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==

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

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 ==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:
 {{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."}}

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 ==Bibliography ==
 * ''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
 * Beard, Charles A. ''The Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy'' (1915) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65989719 online edition]
@@ Line 264: / Line 264: @@
 * 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.
-* 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.
 * Kerber, Linda K. ''Federalists in Dissent: Imagery and ideology in Jeffersonian America'' (1970)

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 The United States by 1800 had the first two-party system in the world. The First Party System was built around foreign policy issues that vanished with the defeat of Napoleon and the compromise settlement of the [[War of 1812]]. Furthermore, the fears that Federalists were plotting to reintroduce aristocracy dissipated. Thus an "[[Era of Good Feelings]]" under [[James Monroe]] replaced the high-tension politics of the First Party System about 1816. Personal politics and factional disputes could occasionally still get nasty, but Americans no longer thought of themselves in terms of political parties.
-[http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0813122716&id=aDHBSYXazMcC&pg=PA77&lpg=PA77&dq=%22first+party+system%22&vq=burnham&prev=http://books.google.com/books%3Fq%3D%2522first%2Bparty%2Bsystem%2522%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a&sig=vXkP0ocY7EzVVoXzSRe6gB3AY0I Historians have debated the exact ending of the system]. Most concluded it petered out by 1820. The little state of Delaware, largely isolated from the larger political forces controlling the nation, saw the First Party System continue well into the 1820s, with the Federalists occasionally winning some offices. For the rest of the nation, the contributions of the founding fathers of political parties had been completed—and thus it seems symbolic that Adams and Jefferson died on the same day ([[4 July]] [[1826]]), even on their deathbeds acknowledging the other's remarkable contributions.
+[https://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0813122716&id=aDHBSYXazMcC&pg=PA77&lpg=PA77&dq=%22first+party+system%22&vq=burnham&prev=https://books.google.com/books%3Fq%3D%2522first%2Bparty%2Bsystem%2522%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a&sig=vXkP0ocY7EzVVoXzSRe6gB3AY0I Historians have debated the exact ending of the system]. Most concluded it petered out by 1820. The little state of Delaware, largely isolated from the larger political forces controlling the nation, saw the First Party System continue well into the 1820s, with the Federalists occasionally winning some offices. For the rest of the nation, the contributions of the founding fathers of political parties had been completed—and thus it seems symbolic that Adams and Jefferson died on the same day ([[4 July]] [[1826]]), even on their deathbeds acknowledging the other's remarkable contributions.
 ==Legitimacy of a party system==
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 * Kerber, Linda K. ''Federalists in Dissent: Imagery and ideology in Jeffersonian America'' (1970)
 * Larson, Edward J. ''A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign.'' (2007). 333 pp. on 1800 [http://www.common-place.org/vol-08/no-03/reviews/opal.shtml online review]
-*  Luetscher, George D. ''Early Political Machinery in the United States'' (1903) [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1417929189&id=-jVl4dKjk3EC&printsec=toc&dq=Luetscher+Early&sig=dGjoRgvFHMBEnT3MYXYpI68rvl8  online edition]
+*  Luetscher, George D. ''Early Political Machinery in the United States'' (1903) [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1417929189&id=-jVl4dKjk3EC&printsec=toc&dq=Luetscher+Early&sig=dGjoRgvFHMBEnT3MYXYpI68rvl8  online edition]
 *  Miller, John C. ''The Federalist Era: 1789-1801'' (1960), survey of political history
 * Pasley, Jeffrey L.  et al eds. ''Beyond the Founders: New Approaches to the Political History of the Early American Republic'' (2004), topical essays by scholars
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 * Humphrey, Carol Sue ''The Press of the Young Republic, 1783-1833'' (1996) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-press-of-the-young-republic-1783-1833-by-carol-sue-humphrey.jsp online edition]
 * Knudson, Jerry W. ''Jefferson And the Press: Crucible of Liberty'' (2006) how 4 Republican and 4 Federalist papers covered election of 1800; Thomas Paine; Louisiana Purchase; Hamilton-Burr duel; impeachment of Chase; and the embargo
-* Nevins, Allan. ''The Evening Post: A Century of Journalism'' (1922) [http://books.google.com/books?id=q-F2daxBy1AC&pg=PA7&dq=inauthor:allan+inauthor:nevins&num=30&as_brr=1#PPA5,M1 online edition] ch 1-2
+* Nevins, Allan. ''The Evening Post: A Century of Journalism'' (1922) [https://books.google.com/books?id=q-F2daxBy1AC&pg=PA7&dq=inauthor:allan+inauthor:nevins&num=30&as_brr=1#PPA5,M1 online edition] ch 1-2
 * Pasley, Jeffrey L. ''"The Tyranny of Printers": Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic'' (2003) (ISBN 0-8139-2177-5)
 * Pasley, Jeffrey L. "The Two National Gazettes: Newspapers and the Embodiment of American Political Parties." ''Early American Literature'' 2000 35(1): 51-86. Issn: 0012-8163 Fulltext: in Swetswise and Ebsco

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 ==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 (1792). 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>
+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 (1792). 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)==

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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 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.
 ==Idea of a party system==
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 [[Image:NEWS1800.JPG|thumb|left|rapid growth of party newspapers]]
-Hamilton set up his own stable of Federalist papers. His editor in New York City was [[Noah Webster]]. In 1793, Hamilton loaned him $1500 to move to New York City and edit a newspaper for the new [[Federalist Party]]. In December Webster  founded New York's first daily newspaper, ''American Minerva'' (later known as ''The Commercial Advertiser''). He edited it for four years, writing the equivalent of 20 volumes of articles and editorials. He also published the semi-weekly publication, ''The Herald, A Gazette for the country'' (later known as ''The New York Spectator''). As a partisan, he soon was denounced by the Democratic-Republicans as "a pusillanimous, half-begotten, self-dubbed patriot," "an incurable lunatic," and "a deceitful newsmonger ... Pedagogue and Quack." Fellow Federalist Cobbett labelled him "a traitor to the cause of Federalism", calling him "a toad in the service of sans-cullottism," "a prostitute wretch," "a great fool, and a barefaced liar," "a spiteful viper," and "a maniacal pedant." The master of words was distressed. Even the use of words like "the people," "democracy," and "equality" in public debate bothered him, for such words were "metaphysical abstractions that either have no meaning, or at least none that mere mortals can comprehend."<ref>Joseph Ellis, ''After the Revolution: Profiles of Early American Culture'' (1979) pp 199, 206.</ref>
+Hamilton set up his own stable of Federalist papers. His editor in New York City was [[Noah Webster]]. In 1793, Hamilton loaned him $1500 to move to New York City and edit a newspaper for the new [[Federalist Party]]. In December Webster  founded New York's first daily newspaper, ''American Minerva'' (later known as ''The Commercial Advertiser''). He edited it for four years, writing the equivalent of 20 volumes of articles and editorials. He also published the semi-weekly publication, ''The Herald, A Gazette for the country'' (later known as ''The New York Spectator''). As a partisan, he soon was denounced by the Republicans as "a pusillanimous, half-begotten, self-dubbed patriot," "an incurable lunatic," and "a deceitful newsmonger ... Pedagogue and Quack." Fellow Federalist Cobbett labelled him "a traitor to the cause of Federalism", calling him "a toad in the service of sans-cullottism," "a prostitute wretch," "a great fool, and a barefaced liar," "a spiteful viper," and "a maniacal pedant." The master of words was distressed. Even the use of words like "the people," "democracy," and "equality" in public debate bothered him, for such words were "metaphysical abstractions that either have no meaning, or at least none that mere mortals can comprehend."<ref>Joseph Ellis, ''After the Revolution: Profiles of Early American Culture'' (1979) pp 199, 206.</ref>
 By 1796, both parties had a national network of newspapers, which attacked each other vehemently. In 1802 the New York ''Evening Post,'' with large amounts of advertising by Federalist merchants, published a daily edition for 1100 subscribers in the city, and a weekly edition that circulated to 1600 subscribers nationwide. The Federalist and Republican newspapers of the 1790s traded vicious barbs. Hamilton's vices, both personal and political, were favorite targets, as shown by this doggerel from a Jeffersonian paper:<ref>''Independent Chronicle'' (Boston), 16 October 1797 quoted in Carol Sue Humphrey, ''The Revolutionary Era: Primary Documents on Events from 1776 to 1800'' (2003) p, 260.</ref>
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-In 1798 the disputes with France led to a [[Quasi-War]], an undeclared naval war involving the navies and merchant ships of both countries. Democratic-Republicans said France really wanted peace, but the [[XYZ Affair]] undercut their position. Warning that full-scale war with France was imminent, Hamilton and his "High Federalist" allies forced the issue by getting Congressional approval to raise a large new army (which Hamilton controlled), replete with officers' commissions (which he bestowed on his partisans). The [[Alien and Sedition Act]] (1798) clamped down on dissenters, including pro-Jefferson editors, and Vermont Congressman [[Matthew Lyon]], who won re-election while in jail in 1798.  In the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] (1798), secretly drafted by Madison and Jefferson, the legislatures of the two states challenged the power of the federal government.<ref>Miller, ''Federalist Era'' pp 210-43</ref>
+In 1798 the disputes with France led to a [[Quasi-War]], an undeclared naval war involving the navies and merchant ships of both countries. The Republicans said France really wanted peace, but the [[XYZ Affair]] undercut their position. Warning that full-scale war with France was imminent, Hamilton and his "High Federalist" allies forced the issue by getting Congressional approval to raise a large new army (which Hamilton controlled), replete with officers' commissions (which he bestowed on his partisans). The [[Alien and Sedition Act]] (1798) clamped down on dissenters, including pro-Jefferson editors, and Vermont Congressman [[Matthew Lyon]], who won re-election while in jail in 1798.  In the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] (1798), secretly drafted by Madison and Jefferson, the legislatures of the two states challenged the power of the federal government.<ref>Miller, ''Federalist Era'' pp 210-43</ref>
 ==Jefferson and the revolution of 1800==
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 *[[Federalist Party]]
 *[[Second Party System]]
-*[[Democratic-Republican Party]]
+*[[Republicans (Jeffersonian)]]
 ==Bibliography ==

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 [[Image:Fed-vs-r.jpg|thumb]]
-When war threatened with Britain in 1794, Washington sent [[John Jay]] to negotiate the [[Jay treaty]] with Britain; it was signed in late 1794, and ratified in 1795. It averted a possible war and settled many (but not all) the outstanding issues between the U.S. and Britain., <ref>Elkins and McKitrick, 405-12</ref> the Jeffersonians vehemently denounced it as a sell-out to Britain, saying it threatened to undermine republicanism by giving the aristocratic British and their Federalist allies too much influence.  The Federalists said it avoided war, reduced the Indian threat, created good trade relations with the world's foremost economic power, and ended lingering disputes from the Revolutionary War. The Federalists used the enormous prestige of President Washington to secure senate approval by the needed 2/3 vote.<ref>Elkins and McKitrick, 417-8; Goodman (1964) 71-2.</ref> The fierce debates over the Jay Treaty in 1794-96 according to William Nisbet Chambers, nationalized politics and  turned a faction in Congress into a nationwide party. To fight the treaty the Jeffersonians "established coordination in activity between leaders at the capital, and leaders, actives and popular followings in the states, counties and towns." <ref> Chambers, ''Political Parties'' p. 80</ref>  When Jefferson came to power in 1801 he honored the Jay treaty, but new disputes with Britain ended friendly relations in 1805 and led to the [[War of 1812]]. <ref>Miller, ''Federalist Era'' pp 165-78</ref>
+When war threatened with Britain in 1794, Washington sent [[John Jay]] to negotiate the [[Jay treaty]] with Britain; it was signed in late 1794, and ratified in 1795. It averted a possible war and settled many (but not all) the outstanding issues between the U.S. and Britain., <ref>Elkins and McKitrick, 405-12</ref> the Jeffersonians vehemently denounced it as a sell-out to Britain, saying it threatened to undermine republicanism by giving the aristocratic British and their Federalist allies too much influence.  The Federalists said it avoided war, reduced the Indian threat, created good trade relations with the world's foremost economic power, and ended lingering disputes from the Revolutionary War. The Federalists used the enormous prestige of President Washington to secure senate approval by the needed 2/3 vote.<ref>Elkins and McKitrick, 417-8; Goodman (1964) 71-2.</ref> The fierce debates over the Jay Treaty in 1794-96 according to William Nisbet Chambers, nationalized politics and  turned a faction in Congress into a nationwide party. To fight the treaty the Jeffersonians "established coordination in activity between leaders at the capital, and leaders, actives and popular followings in the states, counties and towns."<ref>Chambers, ''Political Parties'' p. 80</ref> When Jefferson came to power in 1801 he honored the Jay treaty, but new disputes with Britain ended friendly relations in 1805 and led to the [[War of 1812]]. <ref>Miller, ''Federalist Era'' pp 165-78</ref>
 In 1796 Jefferson challenged [[John Adams]] for the presidency and lost. The [[Electoral College]] made the decision, and it was chosen by the state legislatures, which still lacked parties.