Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - American History Federalists VS Jeffersoneans Federalists VS Jeffersoneans With respect to the federal Constitution, the Jeffersonian Republicans are usually characterized as strict constructionists who were opposed to the broad constructionism of the Federalists. As history dictates, this is found to be substantially accurate. Federalists were firm believers in the production of a strong central government and a broad interpretation of the Constitution. However, the Democratic Republicans believed that the government should follow a strict interpretation of the Constitution and held the idea that this would allow honest representation of the people and prevent government corruption. Thomas Jefferson was the driving force behind the Democratic Republicans, who were the main opposition of the Federalists. Virtually disagreeing with the Federalists on every issue, he planned to make considerable amount of changes to the system once he came into power. That he did when he was inaugurated March 4, 1801. In his speech, he stressed the need for a government of limited powers, economy in the national administration, support of state governments in all their rights, acquiescence in majority decisions, the preservation of civil liberties, and peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, and entangling alliances with none. Once in office, the Alien and Sedition Acts which were set by the federalists to control public negativity towards the party and to set limitations to foreigners in the US were not renewed and those imprisoned by them were pardoned. Naval expansion was halted and cuts were made beyond those authorized by the previous Federalist congress, although the navy was not completely dismantled. In document A, prior to his presidency, he writes about his confidence in the ideas of the preserving the constitution in a conservative manner and he states that the Federalists have failed to follow the Constitution accurately and the way it should have been followed. He signifies fact that the Federalists do not follow the “true theory of our Constitution” which is that the states are to be independent as to everything within themselves, and all foreign issues shall remain federal. The Jeffersonian ideals are further expressed in a document from Jefferson to Samuel Miller, a minister (Document B) where Jefferson strongly opposes the idea of government in correlation to religion. He clearly states that no power according to the Constitution was delegated to the general government to assume any authority in religious discipline. In addition to Document B, Document H displays the Jeffersonians strict interpretation of the federal Constitution. Here, James Madison shares his decision with congress on an Internal Improvements Bill. The bill asked approval for federal funds that would go towards constructing roads and canals and improving water navigation. Despite understanding the importance and benefit of the bill, Madison withheld his signature from the bill solely because this power was not expressly given by the Constitution. He goes on to state that the permanent success of the Constitution depends on a definite partition of powers between the general and state governments. This only magnifies the strictness of the Jeffersonians accordance to the literal interpretation of the Constitution and their reluctance to alter, modify, or act in anyway that is not prescribed by the Constitution. Despite the reforms made by the new political party, the Republicans did not seem to follow through with the amount of strength and motivation as they showed when the Federalists held power. The Jeffersonians received much criticism for this as portrayed by John Randolph in “Document F”. Randolph declares that the present government was one of false Republican principles and were not being true to the beliefs they once held. He goes on to state that the current rule was actually, “Old Federalism, vamped up into something bearing the superficial appearance of republicanism”. Despite the minor criticisms, the characterization of the two parties remains obvious and distinct from one another. This is clearly displayed in viewpoints held as well as the actions taken by the each of the parties. The accuracy of the characterization reflects what each party stood for. Evidently they were on different grounds on many matters, and that’s only because they’re core holds different approaches to the same cause. However, the one thing they had in common was the cause, and that was to build The United States of America. Bibliography: DBQ document Word Count: 701
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