In the eighteenth century, the term “faction” carried a far more ominous meaning than the modern term “political party.” It implied a group motivated by passion, prejudice, or private interest, acting contrary to the public good. But the fact is that today’s Blue Party is worse than passion or private interest; they are committed to destroying God’s 1776 Creation.

This idea was inherited from classical writers such as Aristotle, who described faction (stasis) as the central destructive force in Greek city-states. Polybius, who viewed factional conflict as a significant cause of civic decline. Cicero, who lamented that factions destroyed Roman unity. Livy, whose histories traced Rome’s decline to competing political blocs. To ancient theorists, factions were not vehicles of representation—they were the engines of civic collapse.

B. Early Modern Influences

Our Founders also drew on Enlightenment authors, including Montesquieu, who said factions easily corrupted republics. David Hume, who argued that factional spirit was “inseparable from free government, yet was dangerous.” Algernon Sidney framed faction as a betrayal of civic virtue. Thus, when our Founders used the term, they weren’t describing benign partisan disagreements. They were pointing to a historical phenomenon associated with political chaos, civil war, and the death of republics.

C. Madison’s Canonical Definition

James Madison provided the most influential definition of faction: “A faction is a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, united and actuated by some common impulse of passion or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community”—Federalist No. 10.

Madison’s definition highlights two essential features: Factions are driven by passion or interest, not reason or principle. Factional goals oppose either rights or the common good. This conceptual clarity underpinned our Founders’ political thought.

Why Our Founders Feared Factions

A. Factions Undermine Public Virtue

A Republican government requires a virtuous citizenry. Public office is a trust, not a possession, and Liberty survives only when citizens place the common good above personal or partisan interests.

Our Founders believed factions invert this moral order. Instead of fostering civic duty, factions promote loyalty to party above loyalty to country, elevate ambition above responsibility, reward demagogues who inflame passions, and weaken the moral unity necessary for self-government.

John Adams was particularly blunt: “There is nothing which I dread so much as the division of the Republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader… It is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution” — Adams to Jonathan Jackson, 1780. To Adams, parties were signs of political disease—symptoms of a society losing its moral bearings.

B. Factions Threaten National Unity

Our Founders also believed that unity was essential for survival. George Washington, in his Farewell Address, warned against the “baneful effects of the spirit of party”: “The spirit of party serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration.” Washington believed factions would produce: internal jealousy and resentment, unstable political swings, legislation driven by revenge rather than reason, and ultimately a call for a strongman who promises order.

His conclusion was stark and prophetic: “It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption.” Thus, factions were not merely divisive—they were existential threats.

C. Lessons from Ancient Republics

The Founders’ study of history convinced them that factionalism had destroyed previous republics.

1. Athens

Athenian democracy was torn apart by: oligarchic and democratic factions, demagogues manipulating the masses, and civil strife that ended in collapse.

2. Rome

The Roman Republic’s greatest enemy was not Carthage—it was Roman factionalism: Marius vs. Sulla, Caesar vs. Pompey, and Antony vs. Octavian. Each conflict was rooted in rival factions that placed personal ambition above the Republic. Hamilton summarized this historical lesson: “The petty republics of Greece and Italy were kept in perpetual vibration between the extremes of tyranny and anarchy” — Federalist No. 9.

3. Florence

Renaissance Florence was marred by factional turmoil between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, resulting in instability that lasted for generations. The Founders internalized these examples as warnings.

D. Factions Turn Elections into Warfare

For our Founders, elections were supposed to be deliberative processes marked by reason and virtue. Factions convert elections into power struggles, zero-sum contests, emotionally driven battles, and rival interest-group contests.

They shift attention from what is right to who wins. Madison feared that factions, once organized, would manipulate public opinion and dominate government institutions.

E. Factions Expose the Nation to Foreign Influence

The 1790s proved this fear justified. As the U.S. became entangled in the conflicts between Britain and France, American factions chose sides—inviting foreign attempts to shape domestic politics. Washington warned: “Foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.”

Factions, in his view, were the channels by which foreign powers would attempt to sway American policies.

Founders Who Most Forcefully Opposed Factions

George Washington: The Unifier

Washington considered factionalism fundamentally unpatriotic. He believed the newly formed nation, still fragile, would not survive repeated bouts of partisan warfare. His Farewell Address is the most comprehensive anti-party message ever issued by an American president. To Washington, factional animosity was comparable to a disease—slowly weakening, then eventually killing the Republic.

James Madison: The Architect of Anti-Faction Government

Madison possessed the most sophisticated understanding of factional dynamics. He recognized that eliminating factions would require eliminating Liberty, because people naturally form groups based on interests and values. His solution was to control factions through constitutional design, rather than to eradicate them.

Madison’s strategy included: extending the Republic to limit the power of any single faction, balancing competing institutions, and relying on representative government to filter passions. Although he later helped create political parties, his philosophical opposition to them never wavered.

Alexander Hamilton: The Champion of Energetic Government

Hamilton feared that unchecked popular passions could destroy the government. Factions, driven by demagogues, could seize control of legislatures and undermine national unity. His writings in The Federalist emphasize that strong, energetic institutions—especially the executive—are essential to counteracting partisan excess.

John Adams: The Historian of Republics

Adams’ study of classical history convinced him that republics die when factions overpower virtue. His writings, particularly A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States, demonstrate his belief that factional conflict was a sign of corrupted morals. Adams feared that partisan interest would eventually dominate elections, legislation, and public debate.