Edited: Mon. 05 Aug, 2024 Republicans in Revolutionary Times

by Jonathan M. Gresham

Public Domain content

John Patten died in 1787[1] in the American Revolution. He was motivated by the idea of liberty so much that he was willing to give his life for it. George III and the Tories: not so much. We can never bring back soldiers like John. The Liberty we have now is nice, but we should be willing to do what he did.

The US Constitution alone without the Bill of Rights couldn't support state and individual rights. Federalists were those that were led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison; they believed in a strong national government and in protecting the country from moral decay. This ideology was later personified in George Washington and is best charactarized as nationalism. In contrast to that, antifederalists like Thomas Jefferson were skeptical of the Constitution because at the time there wasn't a Bill of rights. Jefferson believed more in the democracy of the states to decide rather than in one executive leader. Hamilton tried to rig Jeffersons election in 1800, but failed in doing so. Hamilton was shot by a man name Aaron Burr in a duel killing Hamilton, but Jefferson became president.

Thomas Jefferson wanted a weak central government but he wanted to protect the powers of the states. Jefferson believed that with education the people could make necessary choices about their government, so that they could preserve liberty.
Alexander Hamilton believed in strong central government. He had little faith in the common person making informed decisions about their government.
Hamilton and Washington wanted to install a National Bank, but it was unconstitutional.

References:
Rankin, Hugh. Patten, John | NCpedia. Www.ncpedia.org, 1 Jan. 1994, www.ncpedia.org/biography/patten-john. Accessed 13 June 2023.

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