As he prepared to leave office in September 1796, President George Washington published a "Farewell Address" warning his countrymen "against the baneful effects of the spirit of party. . . ." Party spirit, Washington continued, "agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against the other . . . [and] opens the door to foreign influence and corruption. . . ." Washington hoped that party spirit would give way to national unity, and so too did James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, but Alexander Hamilton's plans for a commercial society that resembled Britain slowly led to the development of political parties. Madison and his fellow Virginian John Beckley, clerk of the House of Representatives, began organizing opposition in Congress early in 1790. A tour of New York, Vermont, and Connecticut in the spring and summer of 1791 gave Madison and Jefferson.....
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