We picked up where we left off yesterday, reading about the formation of the first political parties in America. We saw how the Democratic-Republican party, supported by Jefferson and Madison, was favored in the South and we listed its main ideas which supported the ideas of Republicanism. Other ideas supported included the ideal of a nation of small farmers, reliance on agriculture, a strict view of the Constitution, and sympathy for the French. The Federalist party (Hamilton) was named after those who supported the Constitution from the beginning, and supported a strong, central representative government, a loose view of the Constitution, reliance on trade (especially with England), and the importance of urban merchants. We spent time comparing and contrasting the two.