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The evolution of political parties essay
The evolution of political parties essay
The rise of American political parties
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In 1792, the Democratic Party was formed to draw attention to its anti-aristocratic policies. Then the Republican Party was formed in 1854, this appealed to those who placed national interest above sectional interest and above states’ rights. There are similarities and differences between the Republicans and Democrats historical evolution, changing viewpoints, and targeted demographics.
Both parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, had evolved in the past. The Democratic Party was formed in the 1830s during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, due to supporters of Thomas Jefferson using the name Republicans, or Jefferson’s Republican. They called themselves “white man’s party”. Extending slavery to the western territories caused conflict
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between the Southern and Northern Democrats because the Southern Democrats protected slavery while the Northern Democrats resisted. It then split the party in 1860 at the Presidential convention due to slavery issues. Both the Northern and Southern Democrats had nominated candidates, Stephen Douglas for the Northerners and John C. Breckinridge for the Southerners. The white Southerners opposed Radical Reconstruction after the Civil War and the party demonized the Republicans calling them “Negro dominated”, even though the white people were in control. Also, Southern Democrats wanted to take back the South, so they “redeemed” every state some peacefully while the others by fraud and violence. They then had control over every Southern state when the Reconstruction was over in 1877. The South remained as a one-party until the Civil Rights Movement began in the 1960s. Most of the Northern Democrats had prejudicial attitudes towards the blacks and offered no challenge to the discriminatory policies of the Southern Democrats. When the Democrats won victory, the Southern Congressmen and Senators were almost automatically re-elected in every election and due to importance of Seniority, Southerners controlled most of the committees in both houses of Congress and killed any civil rights legislation. In addition, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was also a democrat and rarely challenged the powerful Southern bloc. Also, when a federal anti-lynching bill was passed several times in the 1930s, the Southern Senators procrastinated on it. Then there are the Republicans, they formed in 1854 by a group of men that belonged to various minority parties that got together and adopted the name.
It appealed to those who knew of Jeffersonian “republicanism”. They opposed slavery and rejected that Congress had the right to recognize slavery in the Southern position. They insisted on that Congress could abolish slavery and should do so. Then, Abraham Lincoln was elected presidency as a republican candidate but his prospects were weakened due to the prolonged agony of the Civil War; to gather more appeal he took the pro-war Tennessee Democrat Andrew Johnson as vice president. Later on, Lincoln was assassinated and so Johnson and the Republican Congress were head to head on who would control Reconstruction. Johnson wanted the Southern States back into the Union allowing them to entitle the status of blacks while the Congress wanted the federal government to insure black rights. In the end, the Republicans won and got control over the Reconstructions and passed the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution and had established military rule over the South until they met the criteria Congress has set down for their re-admittance. They also established a bi-racial coalition with the whites dominating and the blacks won hundreds of elected positions and appointed to many administrative positions. The white Southerners rallied under the banner of white supremacy and won some states peacefully by votes but Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina Democrats used violence and fraud to win. Later, the Northern Republicans lost interest in the South, so they left the race issue for the Southern Democrats to deal with, and became the party of business interests and President Rutherford B. Hayes ended
Reconstruction. Both parties had similarities and differences in their viewpoints on certain subjects. Such as their views on drugs. Their view on drugs are the same but their strategies are different. The Democrats belief that race shouldn’t play a part in sentencing for drug crimes, working with foreign powers to decrease drug traffic, and drugs must be combated with treatment. They believe that increased efforts on these types of fronts is the only way to stop the drug problem. While the Republicans view is that they believe that all adults have the right to teach their children about the consequences of drugs and that drug treatment should be available in schools for those that will try to overcome their problems. In addition they both have different views on crime control. Where the Democrats believe that the death penalty mustn’t be arbitrary, fight crime with prevention, and have tougher punishments, including the death penalty. While the Republicans views are stricter than the Democrats, they believe in more stringent sentencing laws for felons, supported database for convicted child murderers, and have full support in courts having the right to use the death penalty. Also, had different viewpoints on abortion. The Republicans believe that abortions should be illegal and an unborn child also has individual rights. While the Democrats support abortion rights and wanting to keep elective abortions legal. In addition, they have different views on Social Security. The Democrats believe that the right for any American that paid for Social Security during their working years is maintaining an income after retirement; they strongly oppose the Republicans efforts to privatizing social security believes that this puts everyone’s retirement income at mercy. While the Republicans believe that Americans need better freedom to arranging their personal retirement investments as a supplement to Social Security. The Republicans supported the limitations on the system because it can reduce both government spending and citizen dependency. They also have different views on the economy. The Democrats believe that they should minimize wages and have progressive taxation. While the Republicans believe that taxes shouldn’t be increased for anyone and the free market should set wages. As well as the targeted demographics between the two parties, there are differences in the percentages shown. Such as the amount of people who has a gun or multiple guns in their household. A third of all Americans with children under the age of 18, have a gun in their household, including 34% of families with children younger than 12. Politically, the Republicans are more likely to have a gun in their household, with showings of 49% of adults will have one. While the Democrats will have 22% of adults having a gun in their household. As a result, the Republicans are twice as likely to have a family with a gun in their household. Since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act passed, nearly 59 million immigrants have come to the U.S. Today, there are 45 million immigrants in the U.S. that make up 14% of the U.S. population. There also shows a difference in the amount of immigrants coming into the U.S., that shows that how it’s makes the U.S. worse or better. For the Republicans, 53% say it’s worse while 31% say it’s better. As for the Democrats, 24% says it’s worse, while 55% says it’s better. Despite the difference of how good or bad it has made the U.S., both parties do agree that the immigration system is broken and majority of the parties says the system needs major changes or needs to be rebuilt entirely. Most of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender population is one of the most Democratic demographics groups in the country. Between the two parties, they view the LGBT adults differently, where the Democrats are in favor of them by 66%. While as for the Republicans only 12% are in favor. Between the Democrats and the Republicans, they have largely opposing views about the impact of the health care law on the country. Such as 72% of Republicans say it has a negative effect, while the Democrats (66%) say it has a positive effect. As a result, between the two parties, they do have their similarities but they are mostly different in how they want certain subjects to work. We’ve showed the similarities and differences they had through their evolution, changing viewpoints, and their targeted demographics.
At first, the original parties were focusing on their international relations. The main issues that the first parties encountered were based around were topics such as trade, the military, and national debt. The Federalists wanted the government to regulate trade and spend more money on the military, where the Democratic-Republicans wanted just the opposite. Once the second generation of political parties developed, a lot of those issues were for the most part already resolved. Time was still spent on trade and developing the economy, but there were so many more issues that revolved around problems in the nation. The new issues were topics such as universal suffrage, slavery (civil rights), and territorial expansion. For example, the Whigs opposed slavery where the Democratic Party accepted it. The parties changed into dealing with topics like these because the nation was developing and changing. Once the first parties were able to establish the foundation of the nation, the second generation began to deal with all of these new issues that come hand and hand with a developed
American democracy is fluid; it is constantly evolving and changing. The earliest divide in American politics stems from the very establishment of the government. Regardless of the hope the American founders possessed, political parties began to form almost immediately as the country began to take shape. Today, the two main parties are the Democrats and the Republicans, however each party was not always the same at their start as they are currently.
The first political parties in America began to form at the end of the 18th century. "The conflict that took shape in the 1790s between the Federalists and the Antifederalists exercised a profound impact on American history." The two primary influences, Thomas Jefferson a...
The South won in Reconstruction in many ways. Rebuilding the South was one of its major focuses. Several canals, bridges, and railroads were rebuilt with Reconstruction funds. The Republicans in Congress agreed with southern legislatures on how important business was. For this, a large amount of money was gathered to help the South’s reconstruction. Even though slavery was abolished with the passing of the 13th Amendment, it still existed in the South in the forms of “Black Codes” and cults like the Ku Klux Klan. In conclusion, Lincoln won the war for the North, but President Johnson won Reconstruction for the South by allowing them to create their own laws to keep the former slaves down and keeping their Southern lifestyles.
The first two parties were created in the later 1700’s, and these parties were made for two different purposes. The Federalist & Democratic-Republicans had some similar and opposing aspects, but mostly opposing.
After the Civil War ended in 1865, it was followed by an era known as Reconstruction that lasted until 1877, with the goal to rebuild the nation. Lincoln was the president at the beginning of this era, until his assassination caused his vice president, Andrew Johnson to take his place in 1865. Johnson was faced with numerous issues such as the reunification of the union and the unknown status of the ex-slaves, while compromising between the principles of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. After the Election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant, a former war hero with no political experience, became the nation’s new president, but was involved in numerous acts of corruption. Reconstruction successfully reintegrated the southern states into the Union through Lincoln and Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans, but was mostly a failure due to the continued discriminatory policies against African Americans, such as the Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and sharecropping, as well as the widespread corruption of the elite in the North and the Panic of 1873,
A “war” Democrat opposed to secession, in 1864 Johnson was tapped by Republican President Abraham Lincoln as his running mate to balance the Union ticket. He became president following Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, just days after the Civil War ended. As president, Johnson’s desire to scale back Lincoln’s Reconstruction legislation following the Civil War angered the Radical Republican majority that sought to punish the former rebels of the Confederacy.
The United States of America has two political parties, Democrats and Republicans. The parties were created back in the 1800s and have become their own.The parties are both part of the American government, but they do not believe the same way. The differences in the parties are their beliefs in social issues. The disagreement between the two have been around since they were created. Although the political parties do not agree on social issues, they both want what is best for citizens in the United States. Without the two parties, America would not not have a way to tell their opinions. Democrats and Republicans have many similarities and differences.
“After Reconstruction, the Democrats used their overwhelming legislative majority and control of the governor’s office to impose a poll tax in 1903 and enact the Terrell Election Law in 1905; two key elements in a plan to limit the influence of those likely to support non-Democratic candidates” (footnote pg. 47). So in the first sixty years of the twentieth century, the Democratic Party continued to flex its political muscle. It would be during the mid-twentieth century however that the Republican Party would see some hope of the future. Conservative Democrats became an issue for the Democratic Party as they supported the Republican Dwight Eisenhower for president. As a matter of fact, Texas Governor Allan Shivers, at a Democratic National
It is indicated that the parties have shifted, but the voters are probably still stuck in them. Racial issues have caused a major flip of the parties, evidenced by the movement of the southern whites from the Democratic to the Republican Party. Economic policy and income distribution have also caused a significant shift since 1896 (Dalton, 2013). The Republican Party has been seen to observe big business, while the Democratic Party is taking the side of labor. In conclusion, the historical reversal of value system holds many reasons for the change in the foundational roles of the two political parties.
The chapter’s biggest point is in tracking differences between past eras and the rise of Republicanism to show the changes. For example, they use party organization during the Jim Crow era to compare and show how party organization grew tremendously with the rise of the Republican party. They also show how party attitudes and beliefs converged to have two major political parties with little to no factioning. In previous chapters they showed how Democrats in the south's, while claiming the name of Democrats, were ideologically very different from Northern
One of these two parties, the Democratic party, was founded in the year 1828. It evolved from the Democratic-Republican party, which had been established by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (U.S. History, 2014). Both of them organized it as a response to the Federalist party formed by Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. The Democratic-Republican party favored a weak federal government, giving rights to states, and strictly following the Constitution. It opposed the creation of a national bank and keeping close relations with Great Britain. During the elections of 1800, the Democratic-Republican party defeated the Federalist party and came to power for the first time. After the War of 1812 occurred between the United States and Great Britain, the Federalist party ceased to exist and the Democratic-Republican party split up over choosing who would succeed President James Monroe (U.S. History, 2014). The faction that backed up a majority of the principles established by Thomas Jefferson became the Democratic
This also caused a split between both parties. Among both of the parties, the Whigs were the first to separate. The split was between the Northern and Southern Whigs. The Northern Whigs believed in a strong central government while the Southern Whigs feared that a strong central government would free the slaves. Therefore, the North was more of anti-slavery and the South was pro-slavery. The Democrats also split into anti-slavery and pro-slavery groups. Eventually, the anti-slavery Democrats and Northern Whigs and radical anti-slavery Free Soil Party came together to form the modern day Republican party. With the ending of the Civil War, the Republicans (North) beated the Democrats (South). Even though peace was restored, there was still conflict between the Republican and Democrats. The Democrats feared that the Republicans would use the central government to force religious moral values within society. At the end of this era, both of the party reached an equal strength of power. Even so, the Republicans started to gain more power that begins the next
...ed with antislavery Democrats and members of the radical antislavery Free Soil Party formed into the Republican party we know now. Southern Whigs didn’t exist as their own party. When the Civil War ended, the Democrats were able to heal, but were resentful toward the Republicans for defeating the south. The Republicans gained in the 1890s with farmers and they were in control of the economy from 1896 until about 1932. In the early 1900s, some Republicans split and went to the progressive party. Republicans held office until the Great Depression. Democrats then controlled until 1968, except Eisenhower during World War II. From then on, it has been pretty even between the two parties.
A political party is an organized group that elects their members to office in hopes to influence government. Organizing and simplifying the political world and policy debates, provides guidance for both politicians and citizens, making political parties a very important aspect in regards to the American political system. The government is forced by political parties to be concerned with its citizen’s needs, therefore, parties play a significant role in making sure that the public voice is heard in decision/policy making, and getting citizens to vote. Identifying oneself with or supporting a specific party is known as partisanship. Therefore, when an individual chooses one political party, they are being partisan. Individuals usually become