FEDERALISTS
AND JEFFERSONIANS
Interpreting
Primary Sources
Those who
labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen
people, whose breasts He has made His peculiar deposit for substantial and
genuine virtue.
--Thomas
Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia
While we
have land to labor then, let us never wish to see our citizens occupied at a
work-bench, or twirling a distaff....For the general operations of manufacture,
let our workshops remain in Europe....The mobs of great cities add just so much
to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strength of the human
body.
--Thomas
Jefferson
If I could
not go to Heaven but with a party I would not go there at all.
--Thomas
Jefferson
All
communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the
other the mass of the people.... The people are turbulent and changing; they
seldom judge or determine right. Give
therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in the government. They will check the unsteadiness of the
second, and as they cannot receive any advantage by change, they therefore will
ever maintain good government.
--Alexander
Hamilton
Yesterday Expired,
Deeply regretted by Millions of grateful
Americans,
And by all good men,
The Federal Administration
of the
Government of the United States....
It found the
United States bankrupt in estate and reputation; it hath left them unbounded in
credit; and respected throughout the world.
It found the treasuries of the United States and individual states
empty; it hath left them full and overflowing....
It found the
United States at war with the Indian Nations;--it hath concluded peace with
them all....It found Great Britain in possession of all the frontier posts; it
hath demanded their surrender, and it leaves them in the possession of the
United States. It found the American
sea coast utterly defenseless; it hath left it fortified. It found our arsenals empty; and magazines
decaying; it hath left them full of ammunition and warlike implements. It found our country dependent on foreign
nations for engines of defense; it hath left manufactories of cannon and
muskets in full work....
It found our
mechanics and manufacturers idle in the streets for want of employ; it hath
left them full of business, prosperous, contented, and happy. It found the yeomanry of the country
oppressed with unequal taxes;--their farms, houses and barns decaying; their
cattle selling at the sign-posts; and they driven to desperation and rebellion;
it hath left their coffers in cash; their houses in repair; their barns full;
their farms overstocked; and their produce commanding ready money, and a high
price....
It found the
United States deeply in debt to France and Holland; it hath paid all the
demands of the former and the principal part of the latter....It found the
United States without a swivel on float for their defense; it hath left a
navy--composed of thirty-four ships of war.... It found the exports of our
country, a mere song, in value; it hath left them worth above seventy millions
of dollars per annum.
--Boston
Columbian Centinel, 1801
The Bible
would be cast into a bonfire, our holy worship changed into a dance of Jacobin
phrensy, our wives and daughters dishonored, and our sons converted into the
disciples of Voltaire and the dragoons of Marat.
--Yale
College President Timothy Dwight, on the possibility of Jefferson's election
Thomas
Jefferson is a firm Republican,--John Adams is an avowed Monarchist....Thomas
Jefferson first drew the declaration of American independence;--he first framed
the sacred political sentence that all men are born equal. John Adams says this is all a false and a
falsehood; that some men should be born Kings, and some should be born
Nobles....Will you, by your votes, contribute to make the avowed friend of
monarchy President?--or will you, by neglectfully staying at home, permit
others to saddle you with Political Slavery?
--1796
Jeffersonian election statement
Questions
to think about:
1. Describe the differences between the
Federalists and the Republicans in their attitudes toward democracy, the role
of government, and cities and manufacturing.
2. Do you consider the Federalists or the
Republicans to be more realistic? more
idealistic?
3. What was the purpose of Hamilton's
program--to create a wealthy class and bind their loyalties to the national
government or to build a strong and prosperous nation?
4. Why do you think the Federalists went down
to defeat in 1800?
STUDY
AID: ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS, 1798
Naturalization Act Required an immigrant to live in the U.S. for l4 years before
becoming a citizen
Alien Act Allowed
the President to expel foreigners from the U.S. if the President believes they
are dangerous to the nation's peace and safety
Alien Enemies Act Allowed the President to imprison or expel foreigners
considered dangerous in time of war or invasion
Sedition Act Barred American citizens from saying, writing, or publishing any false, scandalous, or malicious statements about the U.S. government, Congress, or the President