Between the presidential inauguration of John Adams (1735–1826; served 1797–1801) in March 1797 and the U.S. presidential election of 1800, political divisions in the nation grew wide and deep. Both Adams and former president George Washington (1732–1799; served 1789–97) dreaded the formation of political parties. Political parties are organized groups of people who have similar viewpoints or philosophies about how to run the government. Washington and Adams believed that political parties were self-serving, supporting only their own interests rather than the common good. However, the U.S. Constitution did not address the issue of political parties, so Washington, Adams, and other leaders did not have any legal framework to prevent or control the development of such parties.

People tend to associate with others who think as they do; hence the growth and organization of political parties proved unavoidable. By the mid-1790s, two political parties existed in...