American Factions
I talked in the last post about Roman factions, and it is interesting to compare the Roman experience with that of the United States in the years after the Constitution was ratified. The United States began, as the Roman Republic, with no political parties – only different political philosophies. The main opponents were Hamilton (traditionalist/for strong central government) and Jefferson (government by the people/Republican).
Hamilton perceived early on that one of the keys to government was to forge an alliance between the government and men of wealth. In his mind democracy was unworkable because it would always lead to anarchy. Hamilton despised public opinion and told Washington that he considered it “of no value.” By the time the revolution ended he had arrived at his architecture of government which included strength supported by wealth which would be sustained, if need be, by a standing army.