What can be surmised about the term federalist?

Answer 1

Speaking in the context of the early days in America, a Federalist believed that a strong Federal, (central ) government was needed to properly govern what had been the 13 American Colonies. After the war of independence from Great Britain, the American nation was a "confederation". This was soon seen as an awkward method of government. By 1879, the "founding fathers" put together a new document changing the central government of America into a Constitutional Republic.

In the context of the times, that being the late 18th century, many Americans feared a central government that was too strong. The fear was that the "Federalists" would soon use the central government to reduce the power and integrity of the 13 "States".

Thus the Amendments called the Bill of Rights became controls over the central government.

It must be understood that what seemed to be a threat of a strong central government as espoused by the people called "federalists" was not really a threat. Nevertheless, a "federalist" became associated with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights fixed that threat in a manner of speaking.

To place the whole issue in proper context, in the year of 1860, the biggest job of the "central or Federal government was delivering the mail.