The new federal government created by the U.S. Constitution went into effect on March 4, 1789. During the next several years, as the new government was being organized, intense political debates erupted. They would be some of the sharpest political conflicts in the nation's history and would shape America for the next two centuries. The central issue in most of the debates involved the role of government in people's lives. Out of this debate grew political factions, groups of people who hold viewpoints on political matters different from other groups. Late in the 1790s, these factions evolved into organized political parties, something the Founding Fathers had not anticipated.

Selecting a National Leader

Before the U.S. Constitution could be put into use, the nation needed to elect members to the House of Representatives and Senate as well as a president and vice president...