Answer:
In the beginning of the United States of America as an independent nation, the Founding Fathers were strongly opposed to the formation of a party system. They thought that political parties would bring nothing but social divisions and internal conflicts to the country. Therefore, the Constitution does not refer to the role of parties in government. Nevertheless, after the death of President George Washington, as a result of ideological differences within his Cabinet, two parties were formed: the Federalists, led by the Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republicans of Thomas Jefferson, the third US president.
The distinction between both parties concerned the extent of the powers of the Executive Branch of the federal government, which the Federalists intended to strengthen while the Democratic-Republicans tried to limit by giving more power to each state. But there were also geographical differences, as the Democratic Republicans were more rooted in the southern states and agricultural zones, instead of Federalists, which belonged to northern cities; social, as most Federalists belonged to the upper class, while Democratic Republicans were mostly workers; and of international orientation (the Federalists were pro-Britain, and the Democratic Republicans supported France and the French Revolution).
The Federalists lost strength already in the 1800s, specially after the War of 1812 against Britain, while Jefferson's Democratic Republican Party became the dominant force of the country for three decades. Finally, in 1829, this party split up, forming the Democratic Party and the Whig Party.
