Federalist

In US history, one who advocated the ratification of the US Constitution 1787–88 in place of the Articles of Confederation. The Federalists became in effect the ruling political party under the first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, 1789–1801, legislating to strengthen the authority of the newly created federal government.

Alexander Hamilton led the Federalist Party. After 1801 Jeffersonian Republicans continued many of its more moderate policies, and this factor, together with its opposition to the War of 1812 and its failure to attract new voters in the West, was the reason for its demise.

The Federalists advocated reconciliation with Britain and were urban, educated, and vaguely antidemocratic. They created the federal judiciary and the territorial system, and introduced excise laws, a US bank, a protective tariff and bounty system to develop industry and agriculture, and a postal system.