Essay 1 The Founding fathers opposed factions because they believed that factions were dangerous for America.

James Madison co-author of the federalist papers and Father of the Constitution had a strong suspicion of groups of people. James Madison described a faction in the Federalist Papers as a number of citizens who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent or aggregate interests of the community Madison argued that the government would need to be set up in such a way to avoid the control of any one faction. Madison believed that people are self-interested; he assumed that factions are opposed to public good. The founders set up the American Government to control factions by dividing government through separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism. When George Washington was made president the American Government did not have political parties, in fact George Washington despised parties stating in his farewell address, They [political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community Andrew Jackson was elected president in 1828 and along with him came the emergence of the professional politician. In 1828 party politics ruled the day and they were very competitive. They believed political parties are essential to democracy and that they bring people together. Instead of parties being enemies of democracy, they thought of them as agents of democracy and without them the public would be disconnected. In 1812 the Federalist Party collapsed and this led to the era of good feelings where the Republican Party was the only party in town, so to speak. With only one party there was a growing belief that the one party Republicans had simply created a regime of insider corruption and manipulation in 1820, the idea had arisen across the country that something was radically wrong

in the administration of the Government.1 Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren also viewed parties as a positive because it made the average citizen more involved. Politics became more central in peoples lives. The passage of a suffrage bill that stated 100% of white men could vote and the charisma and controversy of Andrew Jackson led to a huge additional amount of voters. Whereas before it was a small elite class that selected the president, now most citizens who were eligible were making their way out to voting booths. Jackson and Van Buren thought political parties made life easier for the voter, it helped simplify the election. Parties give you background on the candidate and some of what they stand for even if you do not know anything about them, this made politics more assessable. George Washington Plunkitt was a powerful leader in Tammany Hall, New York's Democratic political machine. He served as a state senator and a representative to the New York Assembly. But he exercised greater political influence through his work as a ward boss in New York's Fifteenth Assembly District.2George Washington Plunkitts political philosophy was reciprocity or as he said you cant keep an organization together without patronage. Men aint in politics for nothin.They want to get something out of it. 3He believes in patronage and honest graft. Patronage is rewarding followers with jobs, and honest graft is seeing your opportunities and takin em.4Plunkitt believed that if a bridge was being built there is nothing wrong with buying that land before it becomes valuable and then selling it to make a profit, even if the only reason you know that the land is going to become valuable is because of your political office. The Founding Fathers would not have like this kind of politics; they had a narrow interest for the country as a whole. Politics was not something you got into to get ahead. Politicians like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson lost money by going into politics. The founders were republicans and a republican believes that your own personal interest should be subordinate to the
1 2

Sean Wilentz, Andrew Jackson (New York: Times Books, 2005), 143. George Washington Plunkitt in The Gilded Age, Last modified 2012, http://www.shmoop.com/gildedage/george-washington-plunkitt.html 3 William L. Riordon, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics (new York: Penguin, 1995), 36. 4 Riordon, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, 3.

public good. This view did not include political winners and losers but everyone behind a common vision. The Jacksonians on the other had are credited with greatly advancing the spoils system a process where the winner of an election rewards his supporters with jobs, and is an enticement to keep working for the party. Jackson wanted to democratize the government by making official duties, he said so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance.5 An idea I think Plunkitt would completely agree with.

Wilentz, Andrew Jackson, 57.