Although it lingered on in these states, the party never regained its national following, and by the end of the War of 1812, it was dead. The Anti-French sentiments among the Federalists continued to grow. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Congressman James Madison rallied opposition to Hamilton’s plan. “It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not, of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend, for the their political constitutions, on accident and force. The Federalist Party was a U.S. political party founded in 1791 by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton managed to accomplish this by having investors invest in public securities, a type of bond that must be repaid-with interest, thus giving the federal government the money to be able to pay off the debt of each state. Thereafter, the party unsuccessfully contested the presidency through 1816 and remained a political force in some states until the 1820s. The term federalist was first used in 1787 to describe the supporters of the newly written Constitution, who emphasized the federal character of the proposed union. Washington’s Farewell Address of 1796, prepared with Hamilton’s assistance, can be read as a classic text of partisan Federalism as well as a great state paper. Its backing centered in the commercial Northeast, whose economy and public order had been threatened by the failings of the Confederation government before 1788. James Madison contested that congress did not have the power to create a national bank and later sided with Thomas Jefferson and his party of Jeffersonians in opposition to these Federalist policies. This article was most recently revised and updated by, North Carolina History Project - Federalist Party, Public Broadcasting Service - American Experience - The Federalist and the Republican Party, Social Studies for Kids - The Federalist Party, Federalist Party - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The death of Hamilton at the hands of Aaron Burr and the final Federalist candidate for President losing in 1816 (Rufus King) marked the end of the Federalist Party. © 2020 A&E Television Networks, LLC. In addition to a widespread public outcry against those laws, which restricted freedom of speech, Adams met with mounting attacks, especially from the Hamiltonian faction of his own party, against his military priorities. After Washington’s inauguration in 1789, Congress and members of the president’s cabinet debated proposals of Alexander Hamilton, first secretary of the treasury, that the national government assume the debts of the states, repay the national debt at par rather than at its depressed market value, and charter a national bank, the Bank of the United States. Alexander Hamilton formed the party during George Washington's first term. By 1817 the party was practically dead, though the opposing Republicans had adopted the Federalists’ principles of nationality and had accepted many of their economic ideas. Furthermore, the public investment established credit between the national government and international and domestic investors. In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a national faction and then, finally, as the new Federalist party."[15]. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British ...read more.