Federalists Quotes

“Republicans” then referred to strong opponents of not only monarchy, but opposed a strong Presidency and federal government. The Federalists who supported John Adams for reelection to a 2nd term, were trounced so badly that it was the end of the Federalist Party. Their attacks on Jefferson had been particularly vicious with the hyperpartisanship as bad as in the early years of the 21st century. Jefferson tried to unify the nation with this quotation. It helped but there was still much bitterness.

as opposed to favoring a monarch or a dictator Jefferson observed that the Federalists, led by John Adams, exaggerated reality and played to the peoples’ fears. This was very true and the accusations about Jefferson and his followers were as severe and untrue as ever in American politics. However, Jefferson’s Democratic Republicans were also not above exaggeration and hyperbole. The electorate generally saw through the Federalist exaggerations and not only threw the Federalists out of office but rejected them so thoroughly that the party was ended in American politics to be later replaced by the Whigs.

The Federalist party had evolved into the Whig Party, his opposition. However, Polk used “Federalist” to designate all conservatives, Whigs or the Federalists who were the precursor conservative party in America.

The Federalists had a majority of both Houses of Congress and the Presidency with George Washington. The establishment of respect for minority views had not yet been established as a tradition. The Anti-Federalists, in order to prevent the Federalists from imposing their own legislation in all fields, used every parliamentary maneuver and delaying tactic. The public, after a few years of the Federalist high-handedness, replaced them with the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists were so badly beaten and unpopular that the party was destroyed, never to rise again.

The Federalist Party had controlled the Executive and Congress for the first 3 Presidential terms (2 for Washington and 1 for John Adams) but Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic Republicans were threatening to unseat the Federalists. Even with the Sedition Act, the Jeffersonians won and the Federalist Party was destroyed forever. Ironically, Jefferson and subsequent administrations saw advantages to the incumbent in the Sedition Act so did not repeal it. It was not until John Quincy Adams (John Adams’ son) had finished his Presidency and became a Congressman that he led the movement to finally repeal the hated Sedition Act.

Adams bitterly blamed Jefferson personally for his failure to win reelection for a second presidential term. See {629219}. Jefferson tried to argue in this quotation that the issues of the election were so great that it was irrelevant who the candidates of the two parties were. In actuality, both were right. The issues were huge, but it was Jefferson who was the most effective critic of the Federalist program and philosophy. Adams had become a bit of a pompous ass as President and this didn’t help his own cause. He and the Federalists believed that the President needed to be treated with great respect and have many of the trappings of monarchy so he would be a credible leader. Jefferson was completely opposite in philosophy and personality. Note that Jefferson, trying to be positive with Adams, tells him in effect, “The Federalists were such right wing ideolo, that if I had been running against any other Federalist candidate I would have won by a much larger margin, but you at least were able to moderate the extreme views so my task was much harder.” Years after this, the two men reconciled.

The bitter partisanship of the time was as intense as any in our history. Jefferson was attacked more frequently and more virulently than even William Clinton. Further, there were still major issues of Congressional vs. Presidential power, and there were those who believed the President should not at all concern himself with the legislative process but should merely carry out those laws that Congress passed.

The Federalists had a loathing of President Thomas Jefferson as strong as that held by Conservatives regarding President William Clinton. Some leading Federalists including Timothy Pickering, a former Secretary of State, developed a plan whereby the New England states would secede if Jefferson won his second term and entice New York to join them thus creating a new empire. Hamilton was one of the most popular Federalists of the day and he put a stop to the plot. This was the last letter Hamilton was ever to write. The next morning he fought his fatal duel with Aaron Burr. Ironically, Burr had negotiated with the plotters for the New York action. He straddled the fence refusing to commit to the plan, but not clearly repudiating it either as Hamilton had done.

The War of 1812 produced the first “peace movement” in the United States. The transgressions against our ships on the part of the French were much greater than those of the English who each accused us of trading with their enemy and ignoring their blockade. Nonetheless we want to war against England. Meanwhile, New England and some New York farmers and merchants were supplying not only English Canada with food and merchandise including supplying the British Army in Canada, which was not against the law then even in wartime. The “Western Frontier” in contrast were strongly in favor of the war, as they had expansionist designs on invading Canada and resented the British for supplying and allying with the Indian Tribes that were resisting the white expansion into their territories and frequently attacked and massacred farmers on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, and the Carolinas. Morse wanted to hang opponents of the war.

In the spring of 1800 New York State legislators were elected. The legislators were then to choose the presidential electors. If New York's electors voted for Jefferson he would likely beat the Federalists, who had just lost their majority in the legislature. Alexander Hamilton wrote to fellow Federalist Governor John Jay proposing to have the sitting legislature change the law to select Presidential electors by popular vote:

Jefferson was the leader of the Republican faction of the nation against the Federalists who had passed the leadership from Washington to John Adams. Adams was somewhat pompous and strove for respect, titles, pomp and circumstance preferring “His Excellency” to “Mr President.” The Federalists strove for stability and order above all. Jefferson itemized the different subgroups and interest groups of the American population who supported the Federalist and a government that was close to the British system, It was a classic split with the wealthy, established, and conservative forces lined up against change and completing the transition to a radically new form of government. The respect the electorate had for Washington kept the Federalists in power for the first three Presidential Elections, but now Jefferson had Adams as the face of Federalism—a much easier target than George Washington. Despite all the power—religious, economic, financial, and governmental—all lined up against the Democratic Republicans, Jefferson over the next four years took his case to the people, who in 1800 voted against the Federalists so overwhelmingly, that the Federalist Party was wiped out in America and Jefferson and his followers dominated American politics for the next two Presidential elections.

Even Washington, the least partisan of the Federalists, was not favorably disposed to the Jeffersonian Democrats. The Democratic Republicans as they called themselves were also equally hostile to the Federalists. So were most of the American people after John Adams’ presidency, and the people voted so heavily against America’s first political party and for the “Democrats”, that the Federalist party totally disbanded, “Blackamoor” is word for a Black person who is extremely dark—almost jet black in color. For many people today it is an impolite term to use,

When Aaron Burr—with the aid of Tammany Hall—won political control of New York City from Alexander Hamilton and the moneyed aristocracy, Hamilton was greatly impressed by the new methods: carriages for the sick and infirm and elderly on election day, for example. He concluded that his own party, the Federalists: