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The label Federalist refers to two major groups in the history of the United States of America:

Federalists were those statesmen and public figures supporting ratification of the proposed Constitution of the United States between 1787 and 1789.
Federalists were also those statesmen and public figures supporting the administrations of President George Washington (1789 – 1797) and President John Adams (1797 – 1801), as well as the related political alliances after 1801.

The two groups are not synonymous, and several Federalists of the first variety were not Federalists of the second (the most notable example being James Madison). Opponents of these groups were called "Anti-Federalists" and "Democratic-Republicans", respectively.

Types of Federalists

The first type of Federalist was distinguished by advocacy of the ratification of the Constitution which would have created a stronger Federal Government (hence the name). It is not a true political party, in fact, but a faction, which later evolved into political parties. The underlying objectives of the form of government defended by the Federalists were to defend protectionist barriers, guarantee the recovery of debts, collect taxes, and sustain a military capable of enforcing internal colonization and slavery, as well as suppressing protest within a society of "different and unequal distribution of property." This Federalist position was formed by American aristocrats in no small measure in reaction to Shay's Rebellion of 1786-1787. In the wake of the American Revolution, elite debt to English trading partners was passed on to Northeastern yeoman farmers and crafts workers as consumers; in addition, farmers and workers were also saddled with regressive taxation. These non-elite factions rebelled at their ensuing loss of property and their disenfranchisement, and were driven to refuge in Vermont by the mercantilists and financiers' mercenary army. Although victorious, American elites became firmly determined to reduce the political impact of any independent "masses" on American political life through the Constitution of Philadelphia; and they fashioned the Federalist defense of this Constitution. The most forceful statement of Federalist principles was The Federalist, a series of 85 essays written in New York City to convince the people of the State of New York to vote for ratification. These articles, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, examined the defects of the Articles of Confederation and the benefits of the new, proposed Constitution, and analyzed the political theory and function behind the various articles of the Constitution. The Federalist remains one of the most important documents in American political science. The Constitution of 1787 had been highly controversial. It was ratified by all the states primarily because of the prestige of George Washington, and the ingenuity and organizing skills of its proponents, led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Supporters of the Constitution (called "Federalists") wanted a strong national government, with more power than the weak Confederation. These Federalists of 1787-88 disbanded after victory; the Federalist Party was something different and started a few years later. The opponents (called "anti-federalists") generally were local rather than cosmopolitan in perspective, oriented to farming rather than commerce, and were happy enough with the status quo. Thomas Jefferson, who had been absent as minister to France, had doubts about the new proposal, especially about the absence of a Bill of Rights and the potential for an elected monarchy. The agreement to immediately add a Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments) assuaged temporarily the concerns of the antifederalists. The unanimous election of George Washington in 1789 guaranteed leadership by one of the strongest and most respected leaders in the world. While there were loosely organized parties in Pennsylvania and New York, at first there were no parties in the national government. The fear was widespread that organized parties were counterproductive and dangerous. The United States comprised a vast territory, and 13 states jealous of their prerogatives and institutions. Loyalty to a national government was weak, and repeatedly threats were heard that a state or entire region might secede from the union. The challenge to Washington was to create a strong national government. The first national administration of course set precedents right and left in terms of executive, legislative and judicial roles.

Rise of the Party

The Federalist party formed in the early 1790s to support the fiscal policies of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. It was opposed by the Republicans, led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. The French Revolution forced Americans to side with the Federalists and Britain, or the Republicans and France. Virulent party newspapers kept the emotional intensity red hot. By 1798, the Federalists were arming the country to fight a war with France that never happened. Defeated by Jefferson in 1800, they withdrew to their New England strongholds until the War of 1812 aroused enough opposition to the Republicans to give them another chance. With the end of the war, the party collapsed nearly everywhere.

In terms of politics, the major initiatives in Washington's first administration (1789-1792) came from Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. In a series of reports to Congress on the public credit, Hamilton announced a remarkable series of policies that were adopted after intense fighting. In that fighting in 1790-91 emerged the first parties, one supporting and one opposing Hamilton's program. This alignment at first appeared to be a sort of temporary factionalism, but revolution and war in Europe had the impact of crystallizing the factions into permanent parties, the "Federalist" and "Republican." a Even as parties emerged there remained a strong undertone that there was something dangerous or un-republican about them; not for another three decades would organized parties seem fully legitimate. The Confederation had borrowed money in Europe and at home, and the various states had borrowed money to finance the war effort. Hamilton proposed to pay all the debts at face value, including the assumption by the federal government of all the state debts. The total came to $12 million owed to Europe, and $42 million owed at home. Everyone would turn in their old certificates get new US government bonds paying about 4% interest. By paying $2 million a year in interest, the government would never actually reduce or end the debt, just roll it over and over. And why not, Hamilton asked: the national debt was a good thing because it made people's political loyalties point the same direction as their investment portfolio. Hamilton proposed to pay the annual interest by new taxes on imports (the tariff), and an stiff excise tax on liquor of 9 to 25 cents a gallon (plus taxes on stills, which had to be registered with federal revenue officers.)

Hamilton's plan had multiple goals. First the debts and honor of the nation would be secured. Second, the US would gain creditworthy status should a future emergency require heavy borrowing. Third, the financial interests at home and abroad would have concrete ties to the US government--that is, it would be in their direct financial interest to help the new government and new nation survive and thrive. By assuming the state debts, the financial elites in each state would be directly tied to the national government, and therefore be much less interested in secession. Hamilton's enemies identified a hidden goal: to create a bureaucracy of Treasury agents throughout the country that would be beholden to Hamilton and Washington, not to state politicians.

The need for funding the foreign debt was clear, but strong opposition arose to funding the state debts. Madison began moving away from his commitment to a strong national government, and more and more joined Jefferson as the spokesman for agrarian South, especially in opposition to New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other commercial cities of the North. They argued that many true patriots who loaned money to the wartime government, or soldiers who had been paid in certificates, had come on hard times and sold their securities to speculators for 25 cents on the dollar (which was the going price as late as Washington's inauguration in March 1789. It was unfair they said to reward the speculators with 100 cents and give the original patriots nothing. (The argument was disingenuous, for the opponents had no intention of ever asking their state governments to reward the patriots.) Hamilton retorted that the future credit of the government depended on honoring the exact terms of past contracts. With the government unable to resolve its first major crisis, there was talk of disunion in the air. Noting that southerners also insisted on having the national capital in their region, Hamilton saw his chance. He cut a deal with Madison and Jefferson that gave the future capital to Virginia (i.e. the District of Columbia), while southerners allowed passage of the assumption plan.

Hamilton's program was an immediate success; it proved the government to handle its affairs, established very good credit, and inaugurated an era of wide prosperity. Hamilton immediately followed up his success with a plan for a national bank, privately operated but owned in part by the government. Jefferson said he could find no enabling principle in the Constitution for a bank, but Hamilton said there were "implied powers" in the document which were needed to make the system work. With Washington's support, Hamilton won again, and in 1791 the First Bank of the United States was given a 20 year charter, and immediately provided services to government, merchants and financiers a that helped create a national market. Hamilton won another round in 1791 when the Congress imposed heavy taxes on distilled liquor. Although the Republicans denounced "speculation" as evil incarnate, Hamilton's program had strong positive effects on the economy. The creation of paper securities created liquid wealth that could be moved by entrepreneurs to the areas of fastest growth; they also attracted much needed European investment. The securities provided collateral for loans which were used to invest in new turnpikes, bridges, canals, steamboats, mines, mills, factories and international trade. Nationwide there were perhaps 100 speculators in operation in the early 1790s, comprising less than 10% of the business community. a Apart from their role as devils, they were not politically important. The economy flourished in the 1790s; exports, for example, tripled in value from 1791 ($19 million) to 1796 ($67 million), with most carried in American ships.

By 1790 or 1791 coalitions were forming in Congress for and against the Hamiltonian program. Hamilton supporters were called "Federalists" and the opponents "Republicans." a The people in the middle had no organization and were quickly pulled one way or the other. Thus there were political parties in Congress, but not yet in the states. In 1791 Jefferson and Madison travelled widely looking for alliances with factions and parties at the state level. Their major success came in New York, where long-term governor George Clinton, and ambitious newcomer Aaron Burr, signed up. (Hamilton was the son-in-law of General Schuyler, one of Clinton's enemies.) a Hamilton likewise realized the need for support in the states; he formed connections with local factions, and used his network of Treasury agents to link together friends of the government, especially businessmen in the cities. The state networks began to operate in 1794 or 1795, thus firmly establishing what has been called The First Party System in all the states. The winner-take-all system generates a duality in state politics (the winners and the losers), with the losers especially interested in gaining support by a national connection. Patronage now became a factor; Hamilton had over 2000 Treasury jobs to dispense. In New York, however, Clinton stole the election for governor and used a the vast state patronage fund to help the Republican cause (or at least his own version thereof.)

Jefferson and Madison lacked national patronage. (Jefferson as Secretary of State controlled one part-time job, which he gave to the journalist Philip Freneau.) Therefore they emphasized ideology, especially republicanism and the fear that a strong national government was a threat to the liberties of the people. a Jefferson especially stressed the long-term danger that the national debt would bankrupt the country, and the short term disgrace that the bondholders were paid from taxes paid by honest farmers and workingmen. These themes resonated with the anti- federalists of 1787-88. As Norman Risjord has documented for Virginia, of the supporters of the Constitution in 1788, 69% joined the Federalist party, while nearly all of (94%) of the opponents joined the Republicans. 71% of Jefferson's supporters in Virginia were former anti-federalists who continued to fear centralized government, while only 29% had been proponents of the Constitution a few years before.

Washington tried and failed to moderate the feud between his two top cabinet members. He was reelected without opposition in 1792. a The Republicans nominated New Yorker George Clinton to replace John Adams as vice president, but Adams won. The balance of power in Congress was close, with some members still undecided between the parties. In early 1793 Jefferson secretly prepared resolutions for Congressman Giles to introduce that would have repudiated the Treasury Secretary and destroyed the Washington Administration. Hamilton brilliantly defended his administration of the nation's complicated financial affairs--which none of his critics could decipher until the arrival in Congress of the brilliant Albert Gallatin in 1793.

Foreign affairs rarely play a major role in American politics, but in the 1790s the polarization emerging on domestic issues was dramatically heightened by the French Revolution and Britain's efforts to stop it. Wars raged between France and Britain off and on from 1793 to 1815, with the United States caught in the middle. Federalists denounced the horrors of the French and moved toward an alliance with Britain, which was by far the nation's leading trading partner, and whose navy controlled the seas. Jefferson and the Republicans cheered on the radical change in France, seeing the overthrow of the monarchy as proof that their principles were having a direct and beneficial impact on the old world. Furthermore, France and the U.S. had a formal military alliance dating from 1778, an alliance that had been critical in defeating the British at Yorktown and securing independence. Realizing that both France and Britain were much larger and more powerful, and desiring to keep up a trade in food to both countries, Washington proclaimed American neutrality.

The French chopped off the head of King Louis XVI in January 1793, leading the British to declare war. The Republicans who had been cheering every word from France suddenly began to worry whether the French might be going too far. In the Republican newspapers, the policy was unswerving support, even through the Terror when thousands were guillotined, including many friends of the US, such as the Count D'Estaing whose fleet defeated the British at Yorktown. (Lafayette had already fled into exile.) a Paris sent an ambassador, Citizen Genet, whose travels through the country in the summer of 1793 were designed to mobilize pro- French sentiment and encourage Americans to support France's war against Britain and Spain. Genet hoped for a favorable new treaty and for prepayment of the debts owed to France. Acting aggressively, Genet outfitted privateers that would sail with American crews, but under a French flag, and attack British shipping. He tried to organize expeditions of Americans who would invade Spanish territory, especially Louisiana and Florida. When told he was pushing American friendship past the limit, Genet threatened to go over Washington's head and rouse public opinion on behalf of France. This was blatant foreign interference in domestic politics and was in any case too democratic for the Federalists, who insisted elected officials represented the will of the people, not mass rallies. Genet's extremism seriously embarrassed the Republicans, and cooled popular support for promoting the French Revolution or getting involved in its wars. Recalled to Paris for execution, Genet kept his head and instead went to New York, where he became a citizen and married the daughter of Governor Clinton. Jefferson likewise left office, ending the coalition cabinet allowing the Hamiltonians to dominate.

Jay's Treaty was the effort by Hamilton to resolve numerous difficulties with Britain, some dating to the Revolution (such as the continued presence of British forts in Michigan), and some stemming from the naval war between Britain and France. France had numerous colonies in the West Indies, but could not reach them through the British naval blockade. It therefore opened trade to Americans. As a neutral, the US argued it had the right to carry goods anywhere it wanted. The British nevertheless seized American ships carrying goods from the French West Indies. a The Federalists favored Britain in the war, and by far most of America's foreign trade was with Britain. Hence a new treaty was called for; Jay's Treaty of 1794 was probably the best that a militarily weak nation could have secured, but it was a treaty of unequals. The British promised to evacuate the western forts, opened its West Indies ports to American ships, allowed small vessels to trade with the French West Indies, and set up a commission that would adjudicate American claims against Britain (for seized ships), and British claims against Americans (for debts incurred by southern planters before 1775.) The Treaty was a blow to American prestige, and a severe shock to southern planters who owed those old debts. Republicans thought a much better deal could have been made because Britain faced an aggressive France and was suffering from severe internal problems. Republicans lashed away at the Treaty, but the Federalists controlled the Senate and they ratified it by the necessary 2/3 vote, 20-10 in 1795. The pendulum of public opinion swung toward the Republicans after the Treaty fight--and in the South the Federalists lost most of the support they had among planters.

The excise tax of 1791 caused grumbling from the frontier including threats of tax resistance. Corn, the chief crop on the frontier, was too bulky to ship over the mountains to market, unless it was first distilled into whiskey. The US was an alcoholic republic, consuming vast quantities of hard liquor. The backwoodsmen complained the tax fell on them rather than on the consumers. Cash poor, they were outraged that their meagre wealth had been singled out to pay off the financiers and speculators back east, and to salary the federal revenue officers who began to swarm the hills looking for illegal stills. Insurgents shut the courts and hounded federal officials, but Albert Gallatin, an aristocratic immigrant from Switzerland, mobilized the moderates, and thus forestalled a serious outbreak. Hamilton and Washington, seeing the chance to assert federal power, called out 15,000 militia, and marched toward Pittsburgh. Protest evaporated as Washington approached in late 1795; the affair ended quietly, as the president pardoned the two ringleaders who had been convicted of treason. Federalists were relieved that the new government proved capable of overcoming rebellion, while Republicans, with Gallatin their new hero, argued there never was a real rebellion and the whole episode was manufactured in order to accustom Americans to a standing army.

In the face of angry petitions by three dozen "Democratic Republican" societies, Washington attacked the societies as illegitimate, and was now unequivocally in the Federalist camp. Washington, however, refused to run for a third term, warning in his Farewell Address against involvement in European wars, and lamenting the north-south sectionalism in politics that threatened national unity. The party spirit, he lamented:

    "serves always to distract the Public Councils, and 
    enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the 
    Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; 
    kindles the animosity of one part against another, 
    foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the 
    door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a 
    facilitated access to the government itself through the 
    channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will 
    of one country are subjected to the policy and will of 
    another."

Hamilton distrusted Vice President Adams, but was unable to block his claims to the succession. The election of 1776 was the first party affair in the nation's history, and perhaps the most scurrilous in terms of newspaper attacks. Adams swept New England and Jefferson the South, with the middle states leaning to Adams. a Thus Adams was the winner by a margin of three electoral votes, and Jefferson, as the runner-up, became Vice President.

To strengthen their coalitions and hammer away constantly at the opposition, both parties sponsored newspapers in the capital (Philadelphia) and other major cities. On the Republican side, Philip Freneau and Benjamin Franklin Bache blasted the administration with all the scurrility at their command. Bache in particular targeted Washington himself as the front man for monarchy who must be exposed. Washington was a cowardly general and a money-hungry baron who saw the Revolution as a means to advance his fortune and fame. Adams was a a failed diplomat who never forgave the French their love of Franklin and who cherished a crown for himself and his descendants. Alexander Hamilton was the most inveterate monarchist of them all. The Federalists, with more newspapers at their command, slashed back with equal vituperation; John Fenno and "Peter Porcupine" (William Cobbett) were their nastiest pensmen, and Noah Webster their most learned; Hamilton established the New York Evening Post to promote his views (and occasionally wrote editorials for it.)

James Callender was a pioneer investigative journalist, whose smears and sexual innuendoes enlivened the Republican press. In 1797 James Monroe, a Republican leader, provided Callender with fantastic details about Hamilton's mysterious payments to a Mr Reynolds. Hamilton almost fought a duel with Monroe, but instead published a pamphlet that admitted in too much detail adultery with Mrs Reynolds, and paying blackmail to her husband. Hamilton convincingly denied he gave out Treasury secrets, but the episode destroyed his presidential aspirations. Callender later went to prison for sedition; President Jefferson pardoned him and gave him cash but refused to appoint him to an honorable patronage position. Callender had his revenge by signing up with the Federalists who wanted the dirt on Jefferson. After investigations in the field in 1802 he published a report with many false charges, and one that has refused to go away: that the President kept a black mistress at his plantation and had slave children. Sally Henings thus entered the picture, and to this day haunts Jefferson's memory. Jefferson's friends denied the story, as do most but not all historians (they think Jefferson disliked blacks so much he never would have made one his mistress.) As for Callender, he got drunk and drowned in a ditch in 1803.

Foreign affairs was the central concern of the Adams presidency, for the war raging in Europe threatened to drag in the United States. The new president was a loner, who made dramatic and sometimes rash decisions without consulting Hamilton or anyone else. The late Benjamin Franklin understood Adams was a man always honest, often brilliant, and sometimes mad. Adams was popular among the Federalist rank and file, but had no political base of his own. As a result his cabinet was more attuned to Hamilton than to Adams. After an American delegation was insulted in Paris in the XYZ affair (1797), public opinion ran strongly against the arrogant French. The Federalists, at the peak of their popularity, took advantage by preparing for an invasion by the French army (a very unlikely possibility). There was an undeclared "quasi-war" with France, 1798-1800, in which each side's warships attacked the other's shipping, and a few naval fights took place. To silence newspaper dissent the Federalists passed the Sedition Act, and imprisoned several opposition editors. The Alien Act threatened to deport aliens the president considered dangerous. Jefferson and Madison secretly wrote resolutions passed by the Virginia and Kentucky legislatures that declared the Alien and Sedition laws unconstitutional, and insisted the states had the power to challenge federal laws. These resolutions became known as the "Principles of 1798" and were the foundation of the states-rights, anti-nationalist factions for the next 63 years.

Undaunted, the Federalists created a navy, with sleek new frigates, and a large new army, with Washington in nominal command and Hamilton in actual command. To pay for it all they raised taxes on land, houses and slaves, leading to serious unrest. In one part of Pennsylvania the Fries Rebellion broke out, with people refusing to pay the new taxes. Fries was sentenced to death for treason, but pardoned by Adams. In the elections of 1798 the Federalists did very well, but the tax issue started hurting in 1799. Early that year Adams stunned the country and threw his party into disarray by announcing a new peace mission to France. The mission eventually succeeded, the quasi-war ended, and the new army was disbanded. Hamiltonians called Adams a traitor, and in turn Adams fired Hamilton's supporters still in the cabinet.

Adams' peace moves proved popular with the Federalist rank and file, and he seemed to stand a good chance of reelection in 1800. Jefferson was again the opponent and Federalists pulled out all stops in warning that he was a dangerous revolutionary, hostile to religion, who would weaken the government, damage the economy. and get into war with Britain. The Republicans crusaded against the Alien and Sedition laws, and the new taxes, and proved highly effective in mobilizing popular discontent. The election hinged on New York: its electoral votes were cast by the legislature, and given the balance of north and south, they would decide the presidential election. Aaron Burr brilliantly organized his forces in New York City in the spring elections for the state legislature. By a few hundred votes he carried the city--and thus the state legislature--and guaranteed the election of a Republican President. As a reward he was selected by the Republican caucus in Congress as their vice presidential candidate. Hamilton, knowing the election was lost anyway, went public with a sharp attack on Adams that further divided and weakened the Federalists.

In the electoral college, Burr and Jefferson received the same vote, so it was up to the House of Representatives to break the tie. There the Federalists were strong enough to deadlock the election, with some talk of trying to elect Burr. Hamilton knew Burr was a scoundrel and threw his weight into the contest, allowing Jefferson to take office. "We are all republicans--we are all federalists," proclaimed Jefferson in his inaugural address. His patronage policy was to let the Federalists disappear through attrition. Those Federalists such as John Quincy Adams and Rufus King willing to work with him were rewarded with senior diplomatic posts, but there was no punishment of the opposition. Jefferson had a very successful first term, typified by the Louisiana Purchase. The thoroughly disorganized Federalists hardly offered an opposition to his reelection. In New England and in some districts in the middle states the Federalists clung to power, but the tendency 1800-1812 was steady slippage almost everywhere, as the Republicans perfected their organization and the Federalists played catch-up. Some younger leaders tried to emulate the Republican tactics, but the overall distrust of democracy, and the upper class bias of the party leadership, never allowed much progress. In the South, the Federalists steadily lost ground everywhere.

Fall of the party

Adams's Congress passed the famous Alien and Sedition Acts during the Quasi War with France, and prosecuted the first major naval war in United States history, the Tripolitan War against Barbary privateers. Unfortunately, Hamilton and Adams disliked one another, each finding much in the other's character and politics to loathe, and during Adams's Presidency the Federalists split between supporters of Hamilton ("High Federalists") and supporters of Adams ("Low Federalists"). Hamilton did not want Adams re-elected, and wrote a scathing criticism of his performance as President of the United States in an effort to throw Federalist support to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney; inadvertently this split the Federalists and helped give the victory to Thomas Jefferson, the leader of the Democratic-Republicans.

The Federalists continued to be a major political party (again, not in the modern sense) in New England and the Northeast, but never regained control of the Presidency or the Congress (Adams had successfully packed the U.S. Supreme Court with Federalist appointees before leaving office). With the death of Hamilton in a famous duel with Aaron Burr and the retirement of Adams, the Federalists were left without a strong leader, and grew steadily weaker, despite such leaders as Timothy Pickering and Daniel Webster. Federalist policies favoured commerce and trade over agriculture, and thus became unpopular in the growing Midwest. They were increasingly seen as aristocratic and unsympathetic to democracy, and Federalists fiercely opposed the Louisiana Purchase on Constitutional principle.

After 1800 the major Federalist role came in the judiciary. Although the Republicans managed to repeal the Judiciary Act of 1801 and thus dismiss many Federalist judges, their effort to impeach Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in 1804 failed. Led by the last great Federalist, John Marshall as chief justice 1801-35, the Supreme Court carved out a unique and powerful role as the protector of the Constitution and the counterweight to democracy.

In the European war, Britain took control the oceans after victory at Trafalgar (1804), while Napoleon had virtual control of the European continent after the battle of Austerlitz (1805). In the standoff, each side was determined to keep American supplies away from the other. Both sides ignored and violated neutral rights, infuriating the Americans. It was so bad that in 1807-12, over 900 US merchant ships and cargoes were seized by Britain or France. France, lacking a navy, waiting until ships came to port to seize them, but the British took them on the high seas. In the process the British also seized and impressed into their navy over 6000 sailors, most of whom were US citizens, the rest deserters from the Royal Navy. Impressment of men was thus a much more grievous insult to American honor than the seizure of cargoes, and it was a major factor leading to war. As Secretary of State James Monroe explained, "This dastardly practice must cease, our flag must protect the crew or the United States cannot consider themselves an independent nation." Jefferson and Madison were taking the country into war but because of fears of standing armies, they refused to arm troops or build fleets. They believed that economic coercion would be more effective.

President Jefferson sought war with Britain in 1807, but could not get his party to agree. Instead the Embargo Act of 1808 prevented all American ships from sailing to a foreign port. The idea was that the British were so dependent on American supplies that they would come to terms. For 15 months the Embargo wrecked American business, causing a sharp depression in the Northeast. Evasion was common and Jefferson and Treasury Secretary Gallatin responded with tightened police controls more severe than anything the Federalists had ever proposed. Public opinion was outraged and a surge of support breathed fresh life into the Federalist party. The Republicans nominated Madison for the presidency in 1808. Federalists, meeting in the first-ever national convention, considered the option of nominating Vice President George Clinton as their own candidate, but balked at working with that rascal and again chose Charles Coatsworth Pinckney, their 1804 candidate. Madison lost New England but swept the rest of the country and carried a Republican Congress. Madison dropped the Embargo, opened up trade again, and offered a carrot and stick approach. If either France or Britain agreed to stop their violations of American neutrality, the US would cut off trade with the other country. Tricked by Napoleon into believing France had acceded to his demands, Madison turned his wrath on Britain. London had rescinded the "Orders in Council" two days before US declared war in June 1812, but US would not call off the war without further concessions Britain refused to make.

Thus the nation was at war during the 1812 presidential election, and war was the burning issue. In their second national convention, the Federalists--now the peace party-- nominated DeWitt Clinton, the dissident Republican mayor of New York City, and an articulate opponent of the war. Madison ran for reelection promising a relentless war against Britain and an honorable peace. Clinton, denouncing Madison's weak leadership and incompetent preparations for war, could count on New England and New York. To win he needed the middle states and there the campaign was fought out. Those states were competitive and had the best-developed local parties and most elaborate campaign techniques, including nominating conventions and formal party platforms. The Tammany Society in New York City went all out for Madison; the Federalists finally adopted the club idea in 1809. Their Washington Benevolent Societies were semi-secret membership organizations which played a critical role in every northern state in holding meetings and rallies and mobilizing Federalist votes. New Jersey went for Clinton, but Madison carried Pennsylvania and thus was narrowly reelected.

The war went very badly for the Americans for two years; the army at Detroit surrendered without a shot, the invasion of Canada was a fiasco, the British blockade shut down all trade (except for smuggling into Canada), and New England refused to endorse the war or loan the government money. The Federalists now became the defenders of free speech and the enemy of standing armies, and they spoke openly of the secession of the New England states out of the Union.

Although fighting the British simultaneously with Napoleon, Madison so distrusted the French emperor that there was no coordination whatever regarding strategy. Napoleon lost in 1813, leaving the British free to attack; they burned Washington in 1814 and sent a force to capture New Orleans. However, the British people lost their taste for a prolonged and meaningless war, so peace was signed on Christmas Eve, 1814. Word did not reach New Orleans, where General Andrew Jackson and the western militia demolished the British army, a signal victory that left American elated. Nor did word of the peace or victory reach Hartford, Connecticut, where the Federalist leadership was meeting in secret convention. News of New Orleans and the peace treaty elated Americans; the Federalists never recovered. With the virtually uncontested election of James Monroe in 1816 and reelection in 1820 the nation entered an "era of good feelings" in which party animosity was conspicuously absent. The last traces of Federalist activity came in Delaware in the mid 1820s. As they disappeared so too did the Republicans--nearly every politician was a Republican, and the party caucus in Congress was unable to control the situation. After 1824 the Republicans were dead too. --Interpretations== The importance of the Federalist party was the creation of a powerful national government, armed with the credit and financial resources to carve an independent sphere in the midst of world wars. Criticized for being distrustful of the people and too favorable to monarchy, Britain, and financiers, the Federalists counterattacked saying their enemies wanted a weak government. Once in power the Republicans copied the Federalist policies, even to the point of a national bank. In the 20th century Theodore Roosevelt deliberately emulated Hamilton. Franklin Roosevelt loudly proclaimed his loyalty to Jefferson, but in practice adopted the strong government identified with Hamilton.

The Federalists were generally not equal to the tasks of party organisation, and grew steadily weaker as the fortunes of the so-called Virginia Dynasty grew. For economic reasons, the Federalists tended to be pro-British – the United States engaged in more trade with Great Britain than with any other country – and vociferously opposed Jefferson's ill-advised Embargo Act of 1807 and the seemingly deliberate provocation of war with the United Kingdom by the Madison Administration. During "Mr. Madison's War", as they called it, the Federalists called the Hartford Convention whereat they proposed certain Constitutional amendments; the Hartford Convention proved to be fatal to the party, as it was ever after accused of disloyalty and secessionism.

Many Federalists (including Daniel Webster) later joined former Democratic-Republicans like Henry Clay to become first National Republicans and then Whigs (the precursors to the modern Republican Party). The name "Federalist" came increasingly to be used in political rhetoric as a term of abuse; one popular attack on Whigs was that they were really "Wigs", being nothing but aristocratic Federalists and Tories with powdered wigs and knee-breeches (cf. the Whigs' popular reference to Andrew Jackson as "King Andrew I"). Ironically, Jefferson's and Madison's Democratic-Republicans famously complained of having "out-Federalisted the Federalists" by purchasing the Louisiana Territory, chartering a larger national bank, and imposing much stiffer tariffs. On the other hand, some notable members of Jackson's own party, including future president James Buchanan, began their career as Federalists.

It is characteristic of the American Exceptionalist position to propose that American politics such as Federalism defy comparative, historical classification, instead serving more suitably as models. However, it remains possible to comparatively characertize Federalism and identify ideological lineages. In negotiating with the Anti-Federalists, Federalists became the original innovators of loose constructionism. Hamilton argued that implicit powers such as the chartering of a corporation were valid provided that they were used to pursue explicitly authorized ends such as the collection of tax revenues, and Federalists have been characterized as supporting a strong central government. They were also in favor of strong national defenses, and supported commerce and industry. While we can find historical trajectory from these positions to contemporary Republican politics and widespread Anglo-American political thought today, and some branches of historical political thought would recognize these positions as constitutive of a Right wing politics, the too-quick summarization of Federalists as Right wing would emphasize some Federalist policies at the expense of others.

bibliography

Bibliography: Richard Buel Jr., Securing the Revolution: Ideology in American Politics, 1789-1815 (1972); William Chambers, ed. The First Party System: Federalists and Republicans (1972); Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788-1800 (1993); Dixon Ryan Fox, The Decline of Aristocracy in the Politics of New York, 1801-1840 (1919); Forrest McDonald, The Presidency of George Washington (1974); John C. Miller, The Federalist Era: 1789-1801 (1960); Broadus Mitchell, Alexander Hamilton: The National Adventure, 1788-1804 (1962); Norman Risjord, ed. The Early American Party System (1969) James Rogers Sharp, American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis (1993); Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Fred L. Israel, eds. History of American Presidential Elections, vol. 1: 1789-1824 (1971);