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Party Politics

Words to Understand

Cabinet: In government, a group of advisors of a head of state.

Deficit spending: When a government spends money that it has borrowed rather than collected through taxes. Militia: A citizen army, usually called up in times of emergency.

I n the earliest years of America’s history as an independent nation, the country was unified behind its leadership. George Washington was the unanimous choice as the nation’s first president. His cabinet featured many men who had figured prominently in the Continental Congress and the American Revolution, men who had stood firmly united in the effort to win independence from Great Britain. This spirit of unity and common purpose would not last, however. In Washington’s cabinet were men whose differences would soon become so great that they would form political parties to clarify their views and positions on the key issues of the day. One of these issues was precisely how power would be balanced in the new nation.Would the United States have a strong central government, or would the greater power remain with the individual state governments?

Before he was the unanimous choice as the leader of the nation, George Washington was an esteemed general and commander-in-chief of the army throughout the Revolutionary War.

THE democratic party