Compare And Contrast Federalist And Democratic-Republicans

With many different views on how to run the government, it was hard to depict which parties’ group would be the strongest and the best fit to control the country: the Federalists’ or the Democratic-Republicans. The Federalists’ wanted a very strong government to bring together the bickering states. On the other hand, the Democratic-Republicans pictured more independent state governments to rule the people. Although they didn’t agree on many things they did have one idea in common, such as, both parties wanted to follow the Constitution, but in different ways. The Federalists’ envisioned a strong national government due to the fact that they thought humans were selfish. Alexander Hamilton, the leader of the Federalists, believed that a powerful, central government that use the rights protected in the Constitution would strengthen the state's. Moreover, Hamilton would rather have power in the capital than giving the states rights. “Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments,” Hamilton remarked. In order to get the strong nation and government, he desired, Hamilton made a national bank to pay off taxes, print money, and to make loans. He also wanted to expand the economy to benefit business and trade.
Unlike the Federalists, the Democratic-Republicans thought that people should have the power to rule. Leader of the Democratic-Republicans, Thomas Jefferson, believed that well educated citizens can make good, important decisions for their country. “I have so much confidence in the good of man,” Jefferson would later say. He also believed that the national government shouldn’t govern as much and let the state governments govern their people. This, he argued, would give the people more control since they were closer to their state governments rather than the federal government. Though both parties had very different beliefs, they viewed some things in the same light. One similarity is that they both wanted to use the rights protected in the Constitution to rule the people. Hamilton, for instance, believed that the Constitution is what gave the government the power to protect the people and the country. “Constitutions should consist only of general provisions; the reason is that they must necessarily permanent, and cannot calculate for the possible change of things,” Hamilton Jefferson also wanted to use the Constitution by following everything written in it very precisely. Although Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson had more differences than similarities on how to rule the government, country, and the people, both of their plans were well thought out.
They both tried to make America a better and stronger country starting with the government. In the end, both ideas eventually helped form the government we have today all while uniting the country. Hamilton’s idea of a strong, central government evens out with Jefferson’s beliefs of independent state governments. While we still use both ideas of how the government should be ran, it’s really up to the people to decide which groups’ idea was stronger, better, and more thought out: the Federalist’s or the
Democratic-Republicans?