During the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the characterization of Republicans as strict constructionists opposed to the broad constructionism of the Federalists with regards to the federal Constitution went through phases. A strict constructionist was one who felt everything should be written out, word for word, in the Constitution. A broad constructionist was one who liked to take advantage of the elastic clause as justification for powers and legal authority. The first instance of a conflict between strict and broad constructionists was when Alexander Hamilton wanted to implement the BUS as part of his financial plan. Jefferson and Madison disagreed with the BUS because nowhere in the Constitution did it lay out the means for the federal government to establish a bank. Hamilton pointed to the elastic clause and felt it gave him all the authority he needed because establishing the BUS was what he felt was right for the country. President George Washington settled the dispute and sided with Hamilton and the BUS was created.

Originally the Federalists were all broad constructionists with the founding of the BUS as proof. Later, with the prospect of the Louisiana Purchase a possibility, many Federalists feared a loss in their power. When the territories in Louisiana became states, they would become Republican states, thus putting the Federalists into an even smaller minority. Even with Federalist opposition to the Louisiana Purchase, Hamilton urged the signing of it in 1803. The fact that they didn't have the authority to purchase more than the city of New Orleans demonstrates that the Federalists had remained broad constructionists. However, the Hartford Convention in 1814 shows that by this point they have changed to strict constructionists. During the convention Federalists drafted a set of resolutions that they wanted to be made into amendments written into the Constitution.