Tracy, My guess would be neither. In general, federalists are those who want the central (federal) government to have more power, more control over the group of states, rather than allowing the individual states to have more control over what goes on within their own borders. By 1787, the Revolutionary War was over, so loyalty to Britain was no longer an issue. At this time the arguments concerned the structure and philosophy of the government that would prevail in the new nation, the USA. The 13 former colonies wanted to avoid the tyrannical situation they had just fought so hard to be rid of. That is why Rhode Island held out, and was the last to ratify the new constitution -- there was great support for independence as individual states. A federation is an association of states that are controlled by a central government, but retain some of their individual rights, as opposed to a democracy or a republic, which give more powers to the citizens and/or the individual states, yet still allow for some degree of centralization, such as the power to organize the military, promote free trade among the states, maintain a highway system, etc. When the delegates adjourned the Constitutional Convention, people clamored to know what kind of government had been decided on. It has been reported that Ben Franklin said, "You have a republic, if you can keep it." It is a struggle that has continued to this day. The Civil War was primarily over states' rights, although slavery was the precipitating issue. Some people feel that the federal government has taken over more and more of what should be the states' rights and responsibilities, such as the Supreme Court ruling certain laws unconstitutional at the state level, or Congress passing laws that negate some state laws, or an agency in Washington telling states how and what to teach its students, for example. While we don't have a Federalist Party today, the Democratic Party in general places more emphasis on the control of centralized government, while the Republic Party emphasizes the rights and responsibilities of individual states and persons. Both parties obviously mean well, and probably have the same ultimate objective -- the good of the nation-- but the Democrats tend to see strong central control as a necessity to "fix" our problems (more money to Washington for various federal programs), while Republicans see the solution in personal initiative (tax cuts or lower taxes to give working people the opportunity to invest, start new businesses, pay to educate their kids, and otherwise get ahead in life). The question is, does the system as envisioned in 1787 still work for the huge nation we have become today? Maybe others can add to or clarify what I've said . . . Lois -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 10:28 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [CTMID] Federalist Party Hello I am looking for information on the Federalist Party founded in 1787. Was it a political party for the colonists pro-revolution or a political party that wanted to remain loyal to England? Thanks Tracy ==== CTMIDDLE Mailing List ==== Visit the Godfrey Memorial Library Website http://www.godfrey.org Middletown, Middlesex Co., CT ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237