The Federalist Party (or Federal Party) was an American conservative political party from 1792 to 1816. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801. Alexander Hamilton formed the party during George Washington's first term. Hamilton built a network of supporters for his financial policies. Many supporters came from cities. These supporters grew into the Federalist Party, which wanted a fiscally sound and strong nationalistic government.

Quick Facts Other name, Leader ...
Federalist Partya[]
Other nameFederalists
LeaderAlexander Hamilton (1789–1792)
John Jay (1792–1795)
John Adams (1795–1802)
Charles C. Pinckney (1802–1806)
DeWitt Clinton (1806–1813)
Rufus King (1813–1824)
FounderAlexander Hamilton
Foundedc. 1789
Dissolvedc. 1824
Preceded byPro-Administration party[1]
Succeeded byNational Republican Party
HeadquartersWashington D.C., U.S.
EssaysThe Federalist Papers
NewspaperGazette of the United States[2]
IdeologyHamiltonianism
  Federalism
  Conservatism[3][4]
  Centralization[5][6]
  Modernization
  American School[6]
  Protectionism[7]
  Implied powers[8]
  Pro-Jay Treaty
  Nationalism[9]
Political positionRight-wing[10][11][12][13]
ReligionCongregational church[14]
Colors  Black and   white[15]}}
Senate (1799)
(6th U.S. Congress)
22 / 32
House (1799)
(6th U.S. Congress)
60 / 106

^ a: The Federalist Party appealed to businesses and to conservatives who favored a strong central government
led by a vigorous executive branch, a strong commercial
economy, government-controlled banks, domestic manufacturing, strong military, and in world affairs preferred friendly relationships with Great Britain in opposition to the Revolutionary French Republic.
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A portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull, 1792.

Hamilton and others published a number of newspaper essays in 1787 and 1788, which are known as Federalist Papers today.

In 1789 with the start of the new government under the Constitution, President George Washington appointed his former chief of staff, Alexander Hamilton, to the office of Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton wanted a strong national government with financial credibility.

By 1790, Hamilton started building a nationwide coalition. He and his network of treasury agents tried to link together friends of the government, especially merchants and bankers, in the new nation's dozen major cities. His attempts to manage politics in the national capital to get his plans through Congress, then, "brought strong responses across the country. In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a national faction and then, finally, as the new Federalist party."[16]

The party opposed the War of 1812 and dwindled away after the war in 1816.

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