Shortly after the Constitution was ratified, two major political parties arose, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. These two very opinionated groups were always fighting with each other because of their different interpretations of the Constitution. This tore the nation apart and created turmoil in America's early years. Because of the Federalists' and Democratic Republicans' different interpretations of the Constitution, their views differed on the subjects of assumes Constitutional powers and a Bill of Rights. The Democratic Republicans held strong to a strict letter of the law way of interpreting the Constitution, whereas the Federalists lived by the spirit of the law. This differing way of reading the Constitution was prominent when the thought of assumed powers came up. Alexander Hamilton, who was the first Secertary of the Treasury and a Federalist, established a National Bank to restore the nation's credit. Thomas Jefferson was strongly opposed to...