Gale PhillipsOctober 6, 2020

The first 2 political parties to emerge were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The election of 1800 was a harshly contested one, with name-calling on both sides. Jefferson's Inaugural Address sought to heal those wounds and bring people together: "But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle," he said. "We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." The same message applies today; let us learn to see ourselves as Americans and the principles of the Declaration and the Constitution as the glue that holds us together.