9. Our Founders’ Hatred of Political Parties (14 min.)

This message is the longest because the subject has been repressed for a long time, and the New Awakening is bringing it to the surface. We have something today our Founders did not: 250 years of political factions controlling our Abba Father’s 1776 Creation and almost destroying it. Everything our Founders said has come true, and the New Awakening and Restoration are underway today.

Let’s continue with the Founders’ understanding of the Devil’s role in political parties:

Samuel Adams, “He who made all men hath made the truths necessary for our Happiness obvious to our senses. It is the malice of the Devil which causes our divisions, and the snares of the Devil which entangle us.”

John Witherspoon (Signer of the Declaration), “The enemy of souls hath no greater delight than to sow division among a people, that he may weaken their hand and darken their understanding.”

Patrick Henry, “When we are united, we are strong; when we are divided, we are weak. And the old serpent knows this well.”

John Adams, “The Devil has been the great master of party spirit. It is the source of countless evils in society.” “The Spirit of Faction is the greatest political evil. It opens a door to corruption and all the passions which have ever been considered the works of The Devil.”

George Washington, “The spirit of party (the Devil) … serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, it kindles the animosity of one part against another… and opens the door to foreign influence and corruption.”

James Madison, “Faction Arises from the Passions of Fallen Man.” Madison does not name the Devil, but he describes faction as coming from the corrupt passions of human nature, which 18th-century Christians understood as the Devil’s domain. “The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man…a zeal for different opinions… an attachment to leaders… the spirit of revenge, and rivalry.”

Noah Webster, “Faction is a Work of Evil.” “Party spirit is a species of idolatry, a corruption of the heart…contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The above messages shaped the Founders’ view that factionalism (political parties) posed both spiritual and civic dangers. What we see today in the Blue Party is total depravity. This section makes clear that the real political war is between the Devil’s political factions and our Abba Father’s inviolate Laws of Nature, which determine all outcomes. Still, we pulpit leaders and the Body and Christ are not engaged. Samuel Adams made it clear, It is the malice of the Devil which causes our divisions, and the snares of the Devil which entangle us.”

Our Founders expressed consistent, forceful, and almost universal hostility toward political factions—what we now call political parties. This hostility arose from a rich intellectual heritage, a close reading of ancient republics, Enlightenment philosophy, and a sober assessment of human nature. Despite designing a constitutional system intended to restrain factionalism, our Founders paradoxically witnessed the birth of political parties almost immediately.

The fact is, political parties have the 1^st Amendment right to assemble and the right to petition our government for grievances. That is all the rights they have in governing. In fact, their official designation is a “Club allowed to endorse candidates on the ballot.” But by being elected, they bring their party platform with them as if it transcends our Constitution with only a majority vote. That is dead wrong.

This message explores our Founders’ understanding of factions, their fears regarding the destructive capabilities of partisan division, the constitutional tools they erected to contain it, and the long-term implications of their warnings for American political Life. Though parties proved unavoidable, our Founders’ critiques remain intensely relevant to the challenges of modern politics.

The Classical Meaning of “Faction”

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 our Abba Father’s 1776 Creation.

This idea was inherited from classical writers such as Aristotle, who described faction 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.

Our Mission: Removing Political Faction Power

Of the many tensions embedded in the formative years of the American Republic, few are as striking—or as prophetic—as our Founders’ hatred of political factions. Their disdain was broad, deep, and persistent. To them, factions were a moral plague, a structural danger, and a perpetual threat to republican Liberty.

They believed that representatives bound by passion, ambition, or narrow interest would jeopardize the stability of the new nation and ultimately fracture it. Yet even as these leaders denounced factions, they found themselves organizing, participating in, and sometimes leading the very political parties they despised.

Understanding our Founders’ hostility to factions illuminates the fragility of republican government and the difficulty of balancing human Liberty with collective governance. The Founders were neither naïve dreamers nor cynical pessimists; they were realists attempting to construct a stable political order in a world where the forces of division seemed historically irresistible. Their opposition to factionalism reveals their philosophical depth, historical awareness, and collective effort to shape a nation capable of withstanding the tumult of political passions.

We investigate the historical, philosophical, and constitutional roots of our Founders’ anti-faction stance. It demonstrates why they feared factions, how they attempted to prevent or mitigate them, why they ultimately failed, and why their warnings remain prescient.

Early Modern Influences

Our Founders also drew on Enlightenment thinkers, including Montesquieu, who argued that 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.

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.

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.

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.

Lessons from Ancient Republics

The Founders’ study of history convinced them that factionalism had destroyed previous republics. Oligarchic and democratic factions tore apart Athenian democracy, demagogues manipulated the masses, and civil strife culminated in collapse.

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, Federalist No. 9: “The petty republics of Greece and Italy were kept in perpetual vibration between the extremes of tyranny and anarchy.”

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.

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.

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.

The Founders attempted to engineer a government capable of restraining factions.

Why the Founders Failed to Prevent the Rise of Parties

Despite their efforts, political parties formed rapidly. The reasons include:
Human Nature – People naturally group by interests, regional identities, and ideological beliefs.

Divergent Visions – Hamilton and Jefferson disagreed sharply on federal power, financial policy, foreign relations, and constitutional interpretation. Their followers soon coalesced into organized parties.

Free Press – The Constitution’s protection of the press allowed newspapers to become highly partisan, fueling ideological divides. The Free Press is a great disappointment, only made possible by the weakness of the Laws of Nature at the time of our founding. WePEG1787 solves that problem.

Foreign Policy Divisions – The French Revolution and the European wars sharply divided Americans into pro-British (Federalist) and pro-French (Democratic-Republican) camps.

Personal Ambition – Leaders used party organizations to build power bases. Even Madison and Jefferson, who theoretically opposed factions, built a powerful party to oppose Hamilton.

The Constitution Itself Makes Parties Useful – Because the Constitution separates powers, parties act as coordinating networks that unify branches of government. Thus, the rise of parties was structurally and psychologically inevitable. That is their 1^st Amendment right; where it all went wrong was when their money and power sought victory at all costs, not ‘we the people’s voting independent decisions.

Long-Term Consequences of Factionalism

The Founders’ predictions about factions proved chillingly accurate:

Polarization – Political tribes now define identity, not merely ideology.

Revenge Politics – Each party uses power to punish the other, fulfilling Washington’s warning of “alternate domination.”

Decline of Deliberation – Debate is increasingly replaced by outrage, propaganda, and strategic obstruction.

Foreign Manipulation – Foreign powers exploit partisan divisions through media, cyber influence, and strategic alliances.

Public Distrust – As parties fight for dominance, public trust in institutions deteriorates.

The Founders foresaw these dangers with remarkable clarity.

The Relevance of the Founders’ Warnings for Today

Modern American politics reflects many of the crises the Founders predicted: tribal polarization, media-driven outrage cycles, legislative paralysis, executive overreach, and judicial politicization. Washington’s warning that faction leads to despotism seems increasingly relevant. His final caution rings across the centuries: “A wise people will avoid the mischiefs which result from the spirit of party.” The Founders understood that the challenge of balancing Liberty with unity is ongoing. Their writings serve not merely as historical artifacts but as enduring counsel for sustaining republican government.

Conclusion

The Founders’ hatred of political factions was grounded in historical wisdom, moral philosophy, and practical statesmanship. They recognized that factions are fueled by passion, ambition, and self-interest—forces that threaten republican virtue and stability.

Although the rise of political parties proved unavoidable, their warnings remain profoundly relevant. The Founders provide us with two enduring insights: Liberty dissolves when faction governs without restraint. Only a virtuous and united people can preserve self-government. Their words challenge every generation of Americans to rise above partisan passions and protect the fragile experiment entrusted to them in 1787.

The Body of Christ is the only massive group founded on virtuous living and sacrifice for others; this is our time, and our Abba Father has revealed His WMD – WePEG1787. All that is required is for all of us to spread GodlyCivics.com in glory to our Abba Father.