Chapter 11: More Conflicts Emerge as the New Government Starts Up in 1789

With George Washington in the White House, further political differences surface, this time over the role of the central government and the future development of the American economy.

On one hand are the Federalists, led by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, who calls for power concentrated in the capital, and who embraces Adam Smith’s capitalist vision of a diversified and industrialized economy, including a strong domestic manufacturing base.

On the other are the Anti-Federalists who back Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, in favoring the rights of the “Sovereign States” and belief in an agricultural economy dominated by yeoman farmers spreading across the vast American landmass.