=Opposition to Strong Central Government.=—­Cherishing especially the agricultural interest, as Jefferson said, the Republicans were in the beginning provincial in their concern and outlook.  Their attachment to America was, certainly, as strong as that of Hamilton; but they regarded the state, rather than the national government, as the proper center of power and affection.  Indeed, a large part of the rank and file had been among the opponents of the Constitution in the days of its adoption.  Jefferson had entertained doubts about it and Monroe, destined to be the fifth President, had been one of the bitter foes of ratification.  The former went so far in the direction of local autonomy that he exalted the state above the nation in the Kentucky resolutions of 1798, declaring the Constitution to be a mere compact and the states competent to interpret and nullify federal law.  This was provincialism with a vengeance.  “It is jealousy, not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions,” wrote Jefferson for the Kentucky legislature.  Jealousy of the national government, not confidence in it—­this is the ideal that reflected the provincial and agricultural interest.

=Republican Simplicity.=—­Every act of the Jeffersonian party during its early days of power was in accord with the ideals of government which it professed.  It had opposed all pomp and ceremony, calculated to give weight and dignity to the chief executive of the nation, as symbols of monarchy and high prerogative.  Appropriately, therefore, Jefferson’s inauguration on March 4, 1801, the first at the new capital at Washington, was marked by extreme simplicity.  In keeping with this procedure he quit the practice, followed by Washington and Adams, of reading presidential addresses to Congress in joint assembly and adopted in its stead the plan of sending his messages in writing—­a custom that was continued unbroken until 1913 when President Wilson returned to the example set by the first chief magistrate.

=Republican Measures.=—­The Republicans had complained of a great national debt as the source of a dangerous “money power,” giving strength to the federal government; accordingly they began to pay it off as rapidly as possible.  They had held commerce in low esteem and looked upon a large navy as a mere device to protect it; consequently they reduced the number of warships.  They had objected to excise taxes, particularly on whisky; these they quickly abolished, to the intense satisfaction of the farmers.  They had protested against the heavy cost of the federal government; they reduced expenses by discharging hundreds of men from the army and abolishing many offices.