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The first political parties were the Federalists and the Anti-federalists. The two parties organized because of the fight to ratify the Constitution. The Federalists wanted to ratify the Constitution as is without any changes. The Anti-federalists wanted to create a list of rights that individuals have and so they fought against ratification of the Constitution. Eventually a compromise was made, by adding the Bill of Rights.

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12y ago

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Although they were no officially parties, the first two political factions in the independent United States were the Federalist (those who supported ratification of the Constitution) and the Anti-Federalists (those who opposed it). The Federalists were led by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Leading Anti-Federalist included Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Samuel Adams.

After the Constitution was adopted, there arose two other political factions, the Federalists and the Republicans (usually referred to as the Democratic-Republicans today). Although they were still not parties in the modern sense of the word, they came to represent two opposing viewpoints concerning the Federal government and government policy. The Federalists, who were led by Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, favored a strong central government, close ties with Great Britain, a national bank, and policies that encouraged international trade and industrialization.

The Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, favored a weak central government in favor of states rights, close ties with France, opposed a national bank, and generally favored policies that encouraged protectionism and small scale agriculture.

Because the term "Federalist" meant two different things at two different times in early American history the term can be somewhat misleading if not used in proper context. Some men, such as James Madison, were Federalists in that they supported the ratification of the Constitution but identified with the Republicans in opposition to the Federalist party after the Constitution had been adopted.

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14y ago
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The two earliest political parties in the U.S. were the Federalist and the Republican parties.

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15y ago
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The Fedralists and the Democrat/Republican Party

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12y ago
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hello hi

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Q: What were the two political parties in 1776?
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