Political Views of Federalists and Republicans
Essay Preview: Political Views of Federalists and Republicans
Report this essay
The political views of the federalist and the republicans towards the government of the United States of America were different. The republicans stressed equality of rights among citizens allowing people to govern themselves. The federalists believed in a stronger government one in which was sovereign and had superior power over the local governments.
The republicans view almost always proved to be a disaster but the republicans believed that if a republican government could succeed anywhere, it would be within the virtuous communities of the United States of America. The republicans felt that replacing a monarchy government with a republican government would give the people many more rights and freedoms. Many people thought that it required too much public integrity for the people to govern themselves and live independently. It would require the people to obey laws and maintain order with the absence of monarchy forces.
The federalists view saw the republicans view as a weakness. They insisted on a stronger common government. The federalists had an understanding that there could only be one sovereign in a political system, one final authority that everyone must obey and no one can appeal. They thought this was the only effective way in creating an effective central government. The independent states seemed to think it was clear that each one of them were independently sovereign, although based on history only small countries were suitable for the republican government. With history proving the republicans wrong for trying to create a republican government in the states the federalists were slowly trying to create a stronger central government. There first step was making the sovereign states agree to the Articles of Confederation which established a close alliance of independent states. The federalist central government was referred to as a “confederacy”. The last phrase of the articles represented the states acting together instead of a government directly responsible to the people.
Eventually the republicans and federalists were able to create a government with a type of republic form but that did not depend on the integrity or virtue of the public. In the new federal system neither the states nor the national government were sovereign.