ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Federalist Era

So, a long time ago when America was just starting out and George Washington was the first president, there were some people who thought the country should be run a certain way. They called themselves Federalists.

The Federalists thought the government should be strong and have a lot of power, especially the central government in Washington, D.C. They wanted to make sure that all the states followed the same rules and were united as one country.

Some other people didn't agree with the Federalists. They were called Anti-Federalists. They thought that the government should be smaller and that the states should have more power. They were worried that the Federalists were going to take all the power away from the states and make them less important.

The Federalist era is the time when the Federalists were in charge and trying to make sure their ideas were put into action. This time period lasted from about 1789 to 1801. During this time, there were a lot of important things that happened, like the creation of the first political parties and the writing of the Constitution.

But not everyone was happy with the Federalists and their big government ideas. Some people thought they were being too bossy and that the states should have more say in things. This led to a lot of arguments and debates that lasted for a long time.

In the end, the Federalist era didn't last forever. Other people came into power and had different ideas about how the country should be run. But the Federalists still left their mark on history and helped shape the country we know today.