IN 1642 JOHN WINTHROP COMPLAINED TO THE ELDERS OF THE MASSACHUsetts churches about position maintained in the Countrye, (and those none of the worst) that it should be dangerous for the Com[mon] w[ealth] to have the magistrates united in Love and affection, therefore care to be had, that there be no kindred, affinity, or close amity between them: but that they should rather be devided in factions etc.: If this past for good doctrine, then let us no longer professe the Gospell of Jesus Christ, but take up the rules of Matchiavell, and the Jesuits, for Christ sayeth Love is the bond of perfection, and a kingdom or house deuided cannot stand. Winthrop's lament expressed early in American history the repugnance with which men with a strong sense of community and order regarded factions and parties. In the 1830s political leaders and their personnel built modern, mass parties, bringing a new phenomenon into American life and the necessity of adjusting to it by all who would participate in politics. Not all did so happily. In the 1790s many outcries against the inherent evil of organization had greeted the foreshadowings of structures. George Washington's farewell warning against the baneful effect of spirit was only one of many manifestations of antipartyism to accompany primitive Republican and Federalist organizational efforts. Historians have not appreciated, however, the depth and persistence of antipartyism and its impact on formation in the 1830s, especially on the Whig party. For many the idea of party constituted a negative reference symbol.' Wherever a competitive, two-party system took hold by 1840, loyalty assumed a major role in the behavior of political activists, legis-