James P. Ronda Author of Lewis and Clark Among the Indians
		The dangers of a failed expedition.

To explore or not to explore? For the two opposing political parties of the United States, that was a question—and it was one of many topics about which they disagreed.

After the Constitution was adopted in 1789, two politically divided groups emerged. One, headed by Alexander Hamilton, was called the Federalist party. They were conservatives who supported a strong centralized government and who favored industry, the needs of merchants and landowners, and the concept of societal order. In international affairs the Federalists favored the British and opposed the ideals of the French Revolution. Most members of the party were wealthy merchants, conservative farmers or businessmen, and big property owners in the northern United States.

The other group, headed by Thomas Jefferson, was first referred to as the Antifederalist party. They were later called (Jeffersonian) Republicans and then Democratic Republicans. The Jeffersonian Republicans preferred a society based on small farmers rather than wealthy businessmen or merchants. They also opposed a centralized government because of their reservations about urban commercial concerns. In general, Jeffersonian Republicans stood in favor of the common man and believed in limiting governmental power. Concerning international affairs, the Jeffersonian Republican party supported the French and many ideals of the French Revolution.

Because of the intense political rivalry among parties in the early 1800s, Thomas Jefferson was aware that he would probably meet opposition when requesting money from Congress to conduct an expedition exploring the West. While the Republican party was in favor of exploration, the Federalists were largely opposed even to any discussion of westward expansion. Instead, they preferred that the country donate time and money to military preparedness. As anticipated, the Federalists did protest against the amount of money needed for the expedition, but Jefferson's own political party outnumbered the opposition and supported him in his endeavor. Thus the request to explore Western land was granted.

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