Why did John Swanwick beat Thomas Fitzsimmons in the Philadelphia Congressional Election of 1794
... In the midst of Washingtons ideas of one central government, new ideas were emerging from Philadelphia and two new political parties were being formed. ... By the time of the Philadelphia Congressional Election in 1794, two new candidates will be running, a Federalist and a Democratic-Republican and the question raised will be, why would John Swanwick, a Democratic-Republican, beat Thomas Fitzsimons, a Federalist? In 1794, Philadelphia was a bustling city, the temporary capital of the U. ... , and the center of political controversy concerning the 1794 election. The people of Philadelphia were under the new taxation laws and many were prospering but most were suffering. The wages of artisans such as shoemakers was constantly fluexuating between 1788 and 1794, the peak of their salary being 143 in 1793 but then plumeted down to 77 by 1794. ... The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 grew out of this frustration of excise tax. ... Democratic-Republican, John Swanwick, saw the problems lying within the government and within the people, especially in Philadelphia, while Federalist Thomas Fitzsimons remained loyal to the Washington administration. John Swanwick was an English born Episcopal Protestant, who arrived in the colonies with his family in the early 1770s. Even though his father was a Tory during the American Revolution, John stayed true to the Patriot cause. ... Swanwick was a supporter of Hamilton in the beginning, but as Swanwick was elected to the state legislature in 1792, he began to stray from the ideaology of the Federalist, and began to embrace the ideaology of the Democratic-Republicans.By 1794, he had joined the Pennsylvania Democratic Society and became an officer. ... Though he was very successfull, he was never part of the Philadelphia social elite.
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