The Federalists and the Democratic Republicans were rather different in thoughts and status of people that were involved. The first difference was that the Federalists were rather powerful and wealthy. The Federalist Party involved mostly rich people- lawyers, big businessmen, bankers and merchants, being influential in New England and the North part of the United States because of the popularity of big business there. The main supporters of the Federalist Party were George Washington, John Adams, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Republicans were farmers, small businessmen, and laborers. The first difference was that the Democratic Republicans didn’t have so much money, being poorer than the Federalists. The US south and west parts were most influenced by the Democratic Republicans as there was located the majority of the farming population. The Democratic Republicans featured a strict constructionist view of the Constitution’s interpretation. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were the most influential members of them.
According to Online-history.org, Federalists wanted to have a centralized government to keep order. Besides, they thought that usual people were unable to govern themselves and as a result, they wanted the government to be removed from the people. In addition, Federalists believed in a strong federal government, giving the limited powers to the states. Furthermore, the Federalist Party had a strong executive department along with the strong courts as they wanted to maintain order and insure justice. They also supported the standing army and they tried to imitate British aristocracy that can be ruled by the rich without having a king. Besides, the Federalist Party wanted to censor the press for the political power.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Republicans wanted to have a minimum of government to control the people’s rights. They also believed that common people could govern themselves. In addition, they wanted the government to be close to the people. Besides, the Democratic Republicans favored local government, being closer to the people over the national. It should be also mentioned that they believed that Congress was the main branch of government as it reflected the popular will.
The Democratic Republicans were against standing armies because they were sure that a military leader could seize the government control. They also tried to have more democracy than in the British parliament and claimed of the necessity of speech and press freedom. Moreover, they believed in greater involvement by the common people through the lower voting qualifications and tried to reduce the government interference and as a result, they decreased the number of the federal officeholders.
To sum up, there were a lot of differences between the Federalist and Democratic Republican Parties. We know that the Federalist were wealthy, the Democratic Republicans were poor. However, every party controlled a particular part of the country. Having their own idea, these two parties interpreted the Constitution differently. However, the parties split became the beginning of the American political party system.
References
THE FIRST PARTY SYSTEM: FEDERALISTS V. REPUBLICANS
Retrieved from:online-history.org/…/The-First-Party-System-Federalists-Republicans.doc.
Democratic-Republican Party, the free dictionary by Farlex. Retrieved from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Democratic-Republican+Party