As the summer of 1787 waned, the general feeling in Philadelphia was, "Nobody breathe; we have finally got this Constitution pretty much fleshed out and agreed upon. Let's sign this sucker before anyone opens the floor for debate again."

That's not doctrine, but we're pretty sure it went down that way.

The next step was getting the states to jump on the Constitution bandwagon and agree to adopt it as the new rule of law. The deal was that 9 out of the 13 states had to ratify—a.k.a. agree to—the Constitution in order for it to take effect. Remember, these Founders did like to give the people some say in their government after all.

Just like with every good teen dystopia, people definitely knew which side of the fence they were on, and tried to sway people to their direction.

• Team Constitution adopted the name of the Federalists.
• Team anti-Constitution adopted the name the Anti-Federalists. (Very original, guys.)

The Federalists were fans of a stronger central government, and they liked the power that was granted to the federal government in the three branches outlined by the Constitution. Conversely, the Anti-Federalists thought that the Constitution gave too much power to the central government and that this power should reside the state governments instead.

So, with the ratification of the Constitution, the United States celebrated a new political beginning. But with this party and its anti-party, the epic battle began.

And while most Americans were optimistic, great challenges still lay ahead: national and state debts, a stagnant economy, and foreign threats lurking in Florida, Canada, and the Mississippi Valley.

Naturally, there were internal political divisions, as well. Over the next 12 years, two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, would play the principal role in steering the young nation through these challenges.

These Federalist presidents would accomplish a great deal, both domestically and internationally, but by 1800, their party and their policies would be—dun dun dun—rejected by the American public.

Americans still celebrate George Washington as the father of the country, but the nation that began to take shape during his presidency wasn't the one he had in mind. 

The raucous political debate, combative political parties, and broad definition of freedom of speech that emerged during the 1790s are now the very things we associate with healthy democracies. But in Washington's mind, they represented a perversion of republican government and a threat to good order.

George Washington wasn't the only founding father anxious to avoid these sorts of politically divisive behaviors. Most Americans believed that the survival of the republic depended on the public's willingness to set aside local and individual interests for the sake of the general welfare.

And in fact, Americans turned to Washington in the dark days of the 1780s because he seemed to be the only person able to bring the whole country together behind a common vision. But in this, Washington would ultimately fail, and the political landscape he passed on to his successor, John Adams, would be even more bitterly divided than the one he inherited.

There's no denying Washington's importance to American history. His support for the new government was essential to its success, and his economic and foreign policies laid an important foundation for the new nation.

But his political philosophy and style simply didn't suit the more energetic and democratic political arena that was emerging. While his designation as Father of the Nation is in many ways deserved, the political order that emerged during the 1790s might at best be considered his unwanted stepchild.