PRIMARY SOURCES IN
THE AGE OF RISING
PARTISANISM
The Divide
Between
Federalists
and
Republicans,
1787 - 1798
HAMILTON VS. JEFFERSON
 It is important to remember that these men actually agreed
about more than they diff ered!
 Jeff erson, however, was in f avor of a more democratic,
agrarian society.
 Hamilton f avored a less democratic republican system, and
the interests of trade merchants and industrialists.
 Jeff erson believed that the power of the gover nment
should be limited by a strict interpretation of the
Constitution; Hamilton thought the national gover nment
should be given broad leeway by exercising “implied
powers.”
THE BILL OF RIGHTS – TEST CASE
 The Bill of Rights serves as a test case. No one was really
against the Bill of Rights. Everyone agreed that Americans
had the right to free speech, a free press, freedom of religion,
the right to bear arms, the right to due process and jury
trials. But not everyone agreed that we needed a list of these
rights!
 Hamilton and his followers believed that all of these rights
were inherent, and that no formal Bill of Rights was necessary
to secure them. It would just be so much paper.
 Thomas Jefferson and his camp, on the other hand, though it
was essential to actually write out the Bill of Rights!
Individuals like James Madison sympathized with
Antifederalists complaints – like those of George Mason –
that an actual written documents – able to be interpreted by
judges – was required.
THE VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF
RIGHTS – GEORGE MASON
 George Mason drafted the Bill of Rights in 1776, after the
state of Virginia had declared independence from
England.
 The Virginia Constitution, he believed, needed an explicit
enumeration of the rights of it’s citizens.
 The document “guaranteed Virginians freedom of speech,
freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, and the right
to trial by jury. It barred the state from searching anyone’s
home without a warrant or taking their property without
proper court proceedings.”
THE VIRGINIA STATUTE OF RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM – THOMAS JEFFERSON
 “Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall
be compelled to frequent or support any religious
worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be
enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body
or goods, nor shall otherwise suff er on account of his
religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free
to prof ess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in
matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise
diminish enlarge, or aff ect their civil capacities.”
 Jeff erson, who was a deist and did not practice any
traditional Christian f aith, viewed this as essential to allow
participation in civil society.
WHY DID GEORGE MASON COMPOSE THE
VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF RIGHTS IN 1776?
 George Mason f eared that the rights of the people were
not protected:





Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Religion
The Right to Bear Arms
The Right to Due Process and Jury Trials
Freedom from unf air searches and seizures of property
IN T HE PA S S AGE A BOVE, F IN D AT L EA S T F IVE ( 5 )
S P EC IF IC R IG HT S W HIC H A R E EN U M ER AT ED BY M A S O N
IN T HE VIR G INIA D EC L A R AT ION O F R IG HT S.
 The inalienable rights to lif e, liberty, and the means of
acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and
obtaining happiness and saf ety.
 Freedom of the Press – it could “never be restrained but
by despotic gover nments…”
 The right to a well-regulated militia and protection against
“standing armies in time of peace” which “should be
avoided as dangerous to liberty; and in all cases, the
military should be under strict subordination to, and
gover ned by, the civil power.”
WHAT DOES THE VIRGINIA STATUTE OF
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM STATE REGARDING
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?
 People should not be required to practice any f aith with
goes against their conscience.
 The state should not be able to tax individuals to support a
church which they do not attend or agree with.
 People should be able to prof ess their f aith freely
 Religious f aith should not be a litmus test for holding
office or otherwise serving the community.
WHY D O YO U T HINK T HOMA S JEFFER S ON A ND JA MES
MA D IS ON W ER E S O D EVO T ED TO ES TA BLISHIN G T HE
P R IN C IP L E O F FR EED O M O F R EL IG ION ?
 Thomas Jefferson was a
deist who had no regard
for the divinity of
Christ. He admired
Jesus Christ as a
philosopher, but didn’t
consider him to be the
son of God. He and
Madison sought to
create a society in
which no one would be
punished or excluded
from serving the public
for their religious
convictions.
WHY WOULD ALEXANDER HAMILTON OPPOSE
EFFORTS TO ENSHRINE THESE BELIEFS IN THE
BILL OF RIGHTS?
No one was against the individual rights listed in the Bill of
Rights. Hamilton sought to have the Constitution ratified
without a Bill of Rights only because he considered the
document superfluous – or unnecessary.
Hamilton and many of his Federalist sympathizers declared the
any list of the rights of man would come up short – and
therefore fail to protect one or more of the virtually limitless
rights of man.
The Ninth Amendment to the Constitution did much to address
these concer ns. The Ninth Amendment states,
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of cer tain r ights,
shall not be constr ued to deny or disparage others retained
by the people.”
W HIC H A MEND MENT S IN T HE BIL L O F R IG HT S AC T UALLY
P R ES ERVE T HE BA S IC R IG HT S A R T IC U L ATED BY G EO R GE
MA S O N A ND T HO MA S JEF F ER S ON ?
Freedom of Religion – The First Amendment
The first amendment actually says that Congress cannot
establish any national religion. This is interpreted as a broad
and inclusive protect to practice all religions freely.
The Right to Bear Ar ms – The Second Amendment
The Constitution stipulates that the right to bear arms is
protected in the form of a well -regulated militia. This leaves it
to localities to consider whether or not the right to bear arms
for self-defense is always legal.
Freedom of the Press – The First Amendment
This is granted in the First Amendment as well. George
Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights was the first document
to stipulate the importance of a free press; the Bill of Rights
followed Virginians lead on this point.
W HIC H A MEND MENT S IN T HE BIL L O F R IG HT S AC T UALLY
P R ES ERVE T HE BA S IC R IG HT S A R T IC U L ATED BY G EO R GE
MA S O N A ND T HO MA S JEF F ER S ON ?
Pr ivate Proper ty Rights – The Four th Amendment
Freedom from unlawful searches and seizure of
property is forbidden by the Fourth Amendment to the
Constitution. This has also been interpreted as
guaranteeing certain expectations regarding privacy.
Other Liber ties Not Listed – The Ninth Amendment
Fearful that the individual rights listed in the
Constitution may not have been substantial enough, the
Founding Fathers also included the Ninth Amendment,
stating, ““The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain
rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people.”
JOHN ADAMS – THE 2 ND PRESIDENT
John Adams has seen a major
change in the way he’s viewed in
recent years. He was, in many
ways, a defender of the Revolution.
As President, he feared outsiders –
like the French – may align against
him with his political enemies and
endanger the future of the republic.
But his overreaction to this anxiety
was just as dangerous. The Alien
and Sedition Acts were clear
violations of Americans individual
rights. Jefferson opposed him for
this reason, and the Jeffersonian
Republicans would become a party
of dissent - the loyal opposition.
WHY WAS THOMAS JEFFERSON SO OUTRAGED BY
THIS LAW?
Jefferson viewed John
Adams’ attempt to
squash out dissent to
be a clear violation of
the first amendment –
the right to free speech,
a free press, and the
right to petition the
government for redress
of grievances were all
John Adams argued that the Alien and
brought in to question Sedition acts were necessary in order to
by Adams arbitrary
protect the Revolution. If his political
rulings.
enemies worked with French allies, they
might attempt to overthrow the fledgling
government.
 Thomas Jefferson and James Madison
responded with the Virginia Resolution
and the Kentucky Resolution. These
polemics argued that the states –
because they had created the
Constitution – could also declare federal
laws unconstitutional. They advanced
the theories of interposition and
nullification and argued it was the role
of the states to defend the rights of their
people from the Federal Government’s
intrusions. This is a clear violation of
our understanding of federalism today –
the national laws are “the supreme law of
the land.” Yet, this was a time period
before the Supreme Court case of
Marbur y V. Madison – in which the
Supreme Court claimed the right to
judicial review. By our standards today,
these measures were clearly an
unconstitutional response to an
unconstitutional measure. But in 1798,
there Supreme Court had yet to weigh in.
THE
REPUBLICAN
RESPONSE
What
d o c u me n t s d i d
T h o m as
Je f f e r s o n a n d
Ja m e s M a d i s o n
compose in
re s p o n s e t o
the Alien and
Sedition Acts
in 1798 and
1799,
re s p e c t ive ly ?
W h a t t wo
p r i n c i pl e s d i d
the men
attempt to
e s t abl is h i n
these
d o c u me n t s ?
We re t h ey
c o n s t i t u t io n al ?
W hy o r why
not?