John adams was the first president of the u. s. to belong to a political party. parties arose during the presidency of george washington and were sharply divided on the issue of
a. american expansion into the western frontier.
b. how powerful the federal government should be.
c. whether or not to invade british canada.
d. federal excise taxes to pay for war debts.

b is the answer

Parties arose during the presidency of George Washington and were sharply divided on the issue of B. how powerful the federal government should be.

The first party ever made in the U.S. was the Federalist. The Federalist's supporters believed that a strong government was necessary to properly lead the nation and promoted the belief that the Constitution was open to interpretation, thus the government had "unmentioned rights" to have additional powers.

The second party was a result of the discontent people had toward the Federalist party. They were called the Democratic-Republican party. This party strongly advocated giving more power to the states and local governments and wanted a weak central government instead, fearing that giving too much power to the government would turn American into a monarchy and bring about many abuses of powers and civilian injustices, especially to the middle and working class.

i can't beat you to a pulp if i'm not close enough.