Learning from the Federalists

The Federalist party sprung up out of those who agreed with the Federalist Papers, largely written by the first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Federalism became one of the first two major political parties in the United States, standing in stark opposition to the Democratic-Republicans. In the most general terms, the Federalists were those inside of Washington's administration who argued that the national government should have power over the state governments.

One of the mains sources for this belief set was the Federalist Papers, a series of interpretations of the Constitution published by various politicians in Washington DC. The majority of the Federalist Papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, Washington's Secretary of the Treasury. The first major Federalist cause was Hamilton's desire to open a strong national bank.

The only president elected from the Federalist party was John Adams, the second president. While George Washington claimed to be an independent because of his dislike for political parties, History writes that many of his policy decisions and leanings were on the side of the Federalists.

One of the major polices implemented by Adams was the Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws made it against the law to write or say negative things about the government and made it more difficult for immigrants to enter the U.S. and for newcomers to vote. The act was out of fear and in reaction to the French Revolution, not unlike many of the more extreme policies put forward around freedom of speech and immigration today. The law was eventually found unconstitutional and was emphatically dismissed by the voting population when the next four presidents were from the Democratic-Republican party. No more Federalists were elected to the presidency.

So, the Federalist party stood for states' rights, strong anti-immigration policies, and the desire for a centralized financial strength. Sound familiar? Many of the more extreme Republican views and certainly those of the Tea Party can find their roots in Federalism. While we saw a rise in support for these views a few years ago with the rise of the Tea Party, even now we are seeing their power wane. States' rights are important, but we've seen time and again, from Federalism to the Civil War to the Tea Party, that they come in line with the national good and opinion.

What I think we can learn today is that while it is valuable to argue for strong states rights and for strong immigration policies, the needs of the nation will win out. This, for me, points to the current immigration battle and says that while we will hear plenty from those who want to build a wall, it won't happen and a reasonable immigration policy will win the day. And at the same time, while there are states with factions who want to secede, they will subside and remain in the minority.

Image courtesy of dctim1 via flickr