The first American party system came into being when the
federalists and the Anti-Federalists emerged. The former favoured
the acceptance of the Constitution of 1787 while the latter opposed it. The head of the
Federalists was
Alexander Hamilton, while that of the Anti-Federalists
Thomas Jefferson. One of the first issues they clashed was the establishment of the Bank of the U.S. The Federalists supported it and their leader took the "
loose constructionist" view, while the Anti-Federalists rejected the idea and their leader developed the so-called
strict constructionist view. The Federalists were pro-
British in foreign affairs and the Anti-Federalists were pro-
French. The first president of the U.S.,
George Washington did not belong to either of these groupings, but the second one,
John Adams was the only Federalist president. After the disappearance of the Federalists, the only remaining major party was the former Anti-Federalists, who were now called the
Republican-Democrats. This party was split in 1824 when
John Quincy Adams became president as a result of the so-called
corrupt bargain. His supporters became known as the National
Republicans, while those of the defeated Andrew Jackson, named themselves simply the
Democratic Party. The former group later adopted the name of the
Whig Party. This party merged with other ones on the basis of "free soil and free
labor", that is, it opposed slavery, and renamed itself the
Republican Party. Its first President was
Abraham Lincoln who was elected in 1860. No third party has been able to break the domination of the two major
parties since 1860, though there were some strong third parties, such as the Progressive Party under the leadership of
Theodor Roosevelt or the Reform Party in 1992 under the leadership of Ross
Perot.