<P> By 1790, Hamilton started building a nationwide coalition . Realizing the need for vocal political support in the states, he formed connections with like - minded nationalists and used his network of treasury agents to link together friends of the government, especially merchants and bankers, in the new nation's dozen major cities . His attempts to manage politics in the national capital to get his plans through Congress, then, "brought strong" responses across the country . In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a national faction and then, finally, as the new Federalist party ." The Federalist Party supported Hamilton's vision of a strong centralized government, and agreed with his proposals for a national bank and heavy government subsidies . In foreign affairs, they supported neutrality in the war between France and Great Britain . </P> <P> The majority of the Founding Fathers were originally Federalists . Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and many others can all be considered Federalists . These Federalists felt that the Articles of Confederation had been too weak to sustain a working government and had decided that a new form of government was needed . Hamilton was made Secretary of the Treasury and when he came up with the idea of funding the debt he created a split in the original Federalist group . Madison greatly disagreed with Hamilton not just on this issue, but on many others as well and he and John J. Beckley created the Anti-Federalist faction . These men would form the Republican party under Thomas Jefferson . </P> <P> By the early 1790s, newspapers started calling Hamilton supporters "Federalists" and their opponents "Democrats," "Republicans", "Jeffersonians" or--much later--"Democratic - Republicans". Jefferson's supporters usually called themselves "Republicans" and their party the "Republican Party". The Federalist Party became popular with businessmen and New Englanders as Republicans were mostly farmers who opposed a strong central government . Cities were usually Federalist strongholds whereas frontier regions were heavily Republican . However, these are generalizations as there are special cases: the Presbyterians of upland North Carolina, who had immigrated just before the Revolution and often been Tories, became Federalists . The Congregationalists of New England and the Episcopalians in the larger cities supported the Federalists while other minority denominations tended toward the Republican camp . Catholics in Maryland were generally Federalists . </P> <P> The state networks of both parties began to operate in 1794 or 1795 . Patronage now became a factor . The winner - takes - all election system opened a wide gap between winners, who got all the patronage; and losers, who got none . Hamilton had many lucrative Treasury jobs to dispense--there were 1,700 of them by 1801 . Jefferson had one part - time job in the State Department, which he gave to journalist Philip Freneau to attack the Federalists . In New York, George Clinton won the election for governor and used the vast state patronage fund to help the Republican cause . </P>

Where did the federalists party have a strong base
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