<P> Federalist policies called for a national bank , tariffs and good relations with Great Britain as expressed in the Jay Treaty negotiated in 1794 . Hamilton developed the concept of implied powers and successfully argued the adoption of that interpretation of the United States Constitution . Their political opponents , the Democratic - Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson , denounced most of the Federalist policies , especially the bank and implied powers ; and vehemently attacked the Jay Treaty as a sell - out of republican values to the British monarchy . The Jay Treaty passed and the Federalists won most of the major legislative battles in the 1790s . They held a strong base in the nation 's cities and in New England . After the Democratic - Republicans , whose base was in the rural South , won the hard - fought presidential election of 1800 , the Federalists never returned to power . They recovered some strength by their intense opposition to the War of 1812 , but they practically vanished during the Era of Good Feelings that followed the end of the war in 1815 . </P>
where did the federalists have the most support
in the nation 's cities and in New England