Despite the fact the founding fathers advised contrary to the establishment of political factions as the Constitution withstood the ratification process, a rift amongst men in President George Washington's cabinet instituted the move toward the conception of political party. During the time period between 1791 and 1833, a two-party system had begun that demonstrated the philosophy of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Although these two political groups were unyielding in their original ideas and beliefs, both had to change a few of their initial standpoints on numerous topics as they dealt with the truth of the government.
America's first president, George Washington, assembled some of the finest political thinkers of the era in his group of advisers, often referred to as the presidential cabinet. Two members of the cabinet, Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, and Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, shortly found themselves competing with each other on many aspects of the Washington administration. The first disagreement developed when Hamilton sought a Bank of the United States be created to establish order to the American economy and trade, using the "elastic clause" of the Constitution to rationalize his request (Doc. 1). Thomas Jefferson disputed against the Bank since it was not approved by the Constitution, in consequence illegal and a violation of states' rights (Doc. 2). Following this controversy derived two meanings of the Constitution. One being Hamilton's loose construction, where if the Constitution does not refuse something, it then becomes allowed. Secondly, Jefferson's strict construction, where if the Constitution doesn't clearly address a group, it cannot be present. These ideologies became the source of the first two political parties, along with the philosophy about whether the federal or state government should have the greater control.
