The unanimous choice of Washington for President gave the new
Government a non-partizan initiation. In every way Washington
attempted to foster the spirit of an undivided household. He
warned his countrymen against partizanship and sinister political
societies. But he called around his council board talents which
represented incompatible ideals of government. Thomas Jefferson,
the first Secretary of State, and Alexander Hamilton, the first
Secretary of the Treasury, might for a time unite their energies
under the wise chieftainship of Washington, but their political
principles could never be merged. And when, finally, Jefferson
resigned, he became forthwith the leader of the opposition--not
to Washington, but to Federalism as interpreted by Hamilton, John
Adams, and Jay.
The name Anti-Federalist lost its aptness after the inauguration
of the Government. Jefferson and his school were not opposed to a
federal government. They were opposed only to its pretensions, to
its assumption of centralized power. Their deep faith in popular
control is revealed in the name they assumed,
Democratic-Republican. They were eager to limit the federal power
to the glorification of the States; the Federalists were
ambitious to expand the federal power at the expense of localism.
This is what Jefferson meant when he wrote to Washington as early
as 1792, "The Republican party wish to preserve the Government in
its present form." Now this is a very definite and fundamental
distinction.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25