Political Wars - Mark

Political parties form when a group of government officials with similar convictions work together to promote their agenda. In recent years the two dominant political parties have been the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. This was not always so. During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the two parties fighting for political power were the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. The Federalists’ leader and founder was Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson served as the leader of the Democratic Republicans. Both parties and both men were bitter rivals. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson fought one another over three issues: how much the British government system would influence the American government, how the U.S. economy would move forward, and if it was constitutional to have a national bank.

To begin, Hamilton and Jefferson had opposite opinions about the British government. Alexander Hamilton admired the British government, saying it was the best political system in the world. His desire was for the American government to model after the British. Thomas Jefferson, however, despised the British government. He called it corrupt and evil. He fought to make the American government different from the British government.

Next, Hamilton and Jefferson’s views on how the U.S. economy should move forward differed. Hamilton wanted to industrialize America with cities built around factories. The industrial revolution was beginning to take place in Europe and Hamilton saw this route as the best way for America to have a strong economy. Jefferson, on the other hand, feared the growth of cities. He believed that cities turned good farmers into hardened thugs. Cities, he said, only created problems. His vision for the American future was a people of farmers; landowners who loved nature and the natural world.

Finally, Hamilton and Jefferson debated on if America should have a national bank. Hamilton saw a nation bank as the best way to get America out of the financial debt it was in from the Revolutionary War. The bank was seen as a help for the commercial north but unnecessary to the agricultural south. This was why Jefferson opposed the national bank. He said it was unconstitutional because the Constitution didn’t mention anything about a bank. Hamilton’s argument was that a national bank would be "necessary and proper". The phrase comes from the Constitution which gives the federal government power to do anything “necessary and proper”. Hamilton won the argument and the national bank was created on February 25, 1751.

Even though both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were Founding Fathers, they had quite different views on the degree of influence the British political system should have on America’s, how the U.S. economy should grow and if it was to right have a national bank. It’s these parties and their debates in Congress that shaped the laws of our nation. Political wars can be ugly things, but in the end the fact that many views are heard and considered is a wonderful thing.

-- Mark (grade 10)