During the time when the United States Constitution was starting to be ratified, there was a dispute of who was in power. The question was whether the central government was better, or whether local governments were better, and who should have power. The federalists, who supported the central government, and the antifederalists who supported the local governments had disputes until the time finally came when they reached a compromise. In the end the compromise allowed both the federalists and the antifederalists to share the power in the house, by creating the constitution.

First rising to national attention during the process of ratification, federalists remained an important influence on the government throughout the Washington administration. Led by Alexander Hamilton, the federalists believe in a strong central government at the expense of state powers. Leading federalists were made up of framers of the constitution such as, George Washington and James...