Inquiry Into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United States
Gordan S. Wood's Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 provides a better understanding of the early political divisions in America by explaining the complex social and ideological shifts that marked the period. Wood provides an explanation of how the beginning of political parties was not just because of policy differences but deeper structural issues that were influencing American life. They preferred a very centralized government to help in economic prosperity and stability, as led by figures such as Hamilton, a position bolstered by their belief in the necessity of aligning the new nation with powerful economic interests. However, this made them unpopular over time with the citizens who wanted local autonomy and feared federal outreach due to their openly elitist tendencies and attempts at centralizing power.1
The Republicans of Thomas Jefferson, however, made an effort to preserve the revolutionary spirit in their system by centralizing focus on state's rights and a less centralized federal system. Woods points out that such an appeal for localism and a limited national government gave the other rural majority confidence, as they saw concentrated power as a threat to their freedom. But even within the Republican faction itself was some division, as observed by Van Buren. Jefferson himself had foreseen the fact that the party would never be large in character since the emergence of different strains of republicanism would lead to a split. All this came to light when a split emerged between the extreme Republicans and the moderate ones. The latter favored moderation in their policies, which kept in view the democratic ideas combined with the need for a settled judiciary and common law for order and its maintenance that provided protection to individual liberty.
Internal disputes within the party showed themselves regarding judicial reforms that were extremely important in the early 1800's. Woods views that almost all states shared problems in their legal system and calls for reform ranged from moderate changes in detail to far-reaching and radical changes. These conflicts produced a battleground within the Republican ranks between those who favored drastic changes and those who favored cautious and thoughtful change. Van Buren's observations about the moderates being able to resist such pressures of radical positions without abandoning democratic principles applied here. Wood says this due balance-acknowledging public will while strengthening the essential institutions such as an independent judiciary was what was most essential in nurturing American democracy during its foundational years.2
1Wood, Gordon S.. 2009. Empire of Liberty : A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Incorporated. Accessed September 23, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central.
2 Van Buren, Martin Inquiry Into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United States. Edited by his sons. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 2005) In the Making of America Digital Collection, 154.