"One side appears to believe that there is a serious plot to overturn the State governments, and substitute a monarchy to the present republican system, the other side firmly believes that there is a serious plot to overturn the general government and elevate the separate powers of the States upon its ruins." (Out of Many, 203) Simple suspicion and a clash of political ideology led to the first division within a united party. This party was originally united under one common cause- the freedom of a new and growing nation. However, as the nation began to spread its wings, conflicts arose and two parties formed from one. This dichotomy was inevitable because of the contradicting ideologies each founding "brother" fought to uphold. Each had a different idea, each had a different vision, and each sought to make his vision a reality. Although the seeds of discontent were sown early on, they began to sprout during the process of the ratification of the constitution.
Theophilanthropes, during the French Revolution.
One of the Alien and Sedition Acts
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale in...The seeds began to grow as issues after issues came and fertilized the growing plant of division. Eventually, the plant had grown so large a dichotomy formed between the two groups originally divided between opinions about the creation of a government.
The issue that had always divided the nation was the creation of a large, omnipotent executive government opposed to a government, where local governments would reign supreme. Jeffersonians, later known as the Democratic Republicans, favored an agrarian society, where the yeoman farmer would have his voice heard, and a central government would not be in existence. Hamiltonians or Federalists, believed in a strong, central government to control the masses and avoid a feared "mobocracy." The leaders of these two opposing factions were none other than the infamous Alexander Hamilton and the notorious Thomas Jefferson- two men...