The Federalist faction was the precursor to the Republican party and was a political faction that became America’s first political party (the Federalists). Speaking in simple terms, they had a “big government” platform and were favored in the North. Today we might say their members were conservative-liberals, like a mix between the English Whigs and Tories. They specifically had what we might today recognize as three notable factions, one more classically conservative like the Tories (the core of this party in history), one more classically and socially liberal like the Whigs (a precursor to figures like Clay and Lincoln), and one more socially conservative and nativist (a precursor to parties like Anti-Masons and Know-Nothings). They were generally the more elite faction and were favored by more populated areas. They wanted to create a new superpower, a “New England,” this of course required central banking, central government, and a standing army. They wanted the Constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation, but didn’t want a Bill of Rights. Generally we can say, in comparative terms, the federalists were the elite, right-wing, and conservative party who favored federal-based representative republicanism.