Adams and Jeffersion Legislative Structure

The weakness of the articles of Confederation and the lack of prosperity that ensued under it led people to call for a new government which featured a true central government. The Constitution was drafted, but before it was ratified there was serious debate about the direction that the young country would take. The two competing viewpoints were the Federalists, who supported the Constitution and its stronger central government, and the Anti-Federalists who feared the new government would lead to oppression of the country’s populace. From these two competing viewpoints would arise the nation’s first political parties, the Federalist and the Democrat-Republicans. One of the leading architects of the Constitution was Federalist John Adams who supported a bicameral system and a system of checks and balances between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Adams offered a more moderate voice than other leading Federalist Alexander Hamilton who support a very strong central government and exerted lots of control over the country through lose interpretation of the Constitution. Adams shared the idea with Hamilton that the United States featured unlimited potential and could become economically prosperous and diplomatically strong through a strong federal government. Adams is countered by Democrat Republican Thomas Jefferson, a strict constructionist, who believed that America’s future was one of small agrarian farmers. Jefferson supported a limited government role domestically and abroad. Significant political differences are apparent between Adams and Jefferson concerning their views on the specifics of the Constitution’s representative and judicial systems along with the direction it should take on foreign policy but they both shared the view that government must be of laws and of the people which was exemplified in the peaceful transition when Jefferson defeated Adams in 1800.

The manner in which the legislature and its representatives would be...