Comparison between Jefferson and Hamilton

Essay by robertkatz1234High School, 11th gradeA+, March 2006

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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 the two parties separated from one. This split 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. The seeds began to grow as issue after issue came and fertilized the growing plant of division. Eventually, the plant had grown so large a split 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 with conflicting personalities and ideologies attacking each other through their factions. Jefferson began to take a stand against Hamilton when Hamilton proposed his fiscal program. He wanted to refinance state debt to strengthen the union and thereby increase centralization. He also wanted to create a more economic government and wanted to model it after England's...