In American history, whenever peace was declared, the soldiers' fight continued- not on the battlefields but in the halls of government. They banded together in political formation to defend the ideals they had fought for and to receive just compensation. Their civilian sorties determined the political landscape of a particular era.
Society of Cincinnati
Officers of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War formed a fraternal organization called the Society of Cincinnati. Its aims were to provide aid to the families of needy officers, to preserve the union and freedoms for which they fought, and to maintain a social network among the officers. A key feature of the society was that the eldest sons could inherit their fathers' membership.
The Cincinnati would go on to have significant influence in George Washington's administration. Seventy-four members of the Cincinnati were federal appointees who shared the nationalist policies of Washington and his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. This alarmed Senator William Maclay, who feared that the society was a corrupt "machine" swallowing the government. Also, fearing the hereditary nature of the society, the group calling themselves Republicans accused Washington administration supporters, the Federalists, of being monarchists. This defined politics in the 1790's.
