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VII The Politics of the Federalist Era

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The Long Road to Change
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213CHAPTER SEVEN THE POLITICS OF THE FEDERALIST ERAIn America there are factions, but no conspiracies.– Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America(1835)Time Line1793Outbreak of war in Europe.1794The Whiskey Rebellion.Jay’s Treaty.1795The 11th Amendment (federal judicial powers).1796John Adams elected as president.Tennessee admitted as the 16th state.1797The XYZ Affair.1798The Alien and Sedition Acts.1798-99Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.1800The election of Jefferson as president.Parties In May 1792, Alexander Hamilton wrote to a Federalist ally that “Mr. Madison cooper-ating with Mr. Jefferson is at the head of a faction decidedly hostile to me and myadministration [as secretary of the treasury], and actuated by views in my judgmentsubversive to the principles of good government and dangerous to the union, peace andhappiness of the Country.” Madison and Hamilton had parted ways but the Madison-Jefferson alliance would last until Jefferson’s death in 1826. Throughout 1792, Hamiltonand Jefferson sparred in a series of published articles that worried Washington, whodeplored the rivalry. In the months just before the December 1792 presidential elec-tion, Jefferson indicated his intention to retire from cabinet. Even though he hadjoined with Federalists to persuade Washington to serve again as president, he showedincreasing antipathy toward the Federalists and to Hamilton in particular. The firstparty system had begun to crystallize and, by the end of Washington’s second term,would dominate national politics. In the 1792 election, Washington again won easily,and John Adams was retained as vice president. The Federalists controlled both housesof Congress throughout the 1790s with the exception of the 1792-94 House ofRepresentatives when the Antifederalists held 57 of the 105 seats. The majority of thepolitically active population was still committed to the Federalist agenda, and whileWashington exercised his own version of non-partisan statecraft, Hamilton continued
© 2022 University of Toronto Press, Toronto

213CHAPTER SEVEN THE POLITICS OF THE FEDERALIST ERAIn America there are factions, but no conspiracies.– Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America(1835)Time Line1793Outbreak of war in Europe.1794The Whiskey Rebellion.Jay’s Treaty.1795The 11th Amendment (federal judicial powers).1796John Adams elected as president.Tennessee admitted as the 16th state.1797The XYZ Affair.1798The Alien and Sedition Acts.1798-99Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.1800The election of Jefferson as president.Parties In May 1792, Alexander Hamilton wrote to a Federalist ally that “Mr. Madison cooper-ating with Mr. Jefferson is at the head of a faction decidedly hostile to me and myadministration [as secretary of the treasury], and actuated by views in my judgmentsubversive to the principles of good government and dangerous to the union, peace andhappiness of the Country.” Madison and Hamilton had parted ways but the Madison-Jefferson alliance would last until Jefferson’s death in 1826. Throughout 1792, Hamiltonand Jefferson sparred in a series of published articles that worried Washington, whodeplored the rivalry. In the months just before the December 1792 presidential elec-tion, Jefferson indicated his intention to retire from cabinet. Even though he hadjoined with Federalists to persuade Washington to serve again as president, he showedincreasing antipathy toward the Federalists and to Hamilton in particular. The firstparty system had begun to crystallize and, by the end of Washington’s second term,would dominate national politics. In the 1792 election, Washington again won easily,and John Adams was retained as vice president. The Federalists controlled both housesof Congress throughout the 1790s with the exception of the 1792-94 House ofRepresentatives when the Antifederalists held 57 of the 105 seats. The majority of thepolitically active population was still committed to the Federalist agenda, and whileWashington exercised his own version of non-partisan statecraft, Hamilton continued
© 2022 University of Toronto Press, Toronto
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