American Parties From The Civil War Essay

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American Parties From The Civil War Essay, Research Paper This essay conains American party systems from the end of George Washington?s first term as president through the Civil War. Included are the creations, the building up of, and sometimes the break down of the various parties. As well as the belief in which the parties stood for. The Origins of the Democratic Party In colonial politics tended to organize and electioneer in opposition to the policies of royal, mercantile, banking, manufacturing, and shipping interests. Agrarian interests later become a principal source of support for the Democratic Party. Many of the colonies had so-called Country parties opposing the Court parties in the 18th century. Before the end of the first administration of George Washington in

1793, party alignments of national consequence began to form. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was the master politician of the Federalist Party. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, with help from his fellow Virginian, Representative James Madison, began the first respectable opposition in national affairs. They were called the Democratic-Republican Party, also known as the Jeffersonians. Jefferson spoke about the interests of farmers, veterans, and urban immigrants and was in favor of minimum government, maximum liberty, alliance with France, and easy credit for debtors. In 1792 he and Madison allied with New York’s Governor George Clinton, creating the first political coalition between Northern and Southern politicians. After Jefferson?s reelection of 1804,

Federalist strength tended to decline everywhere except in New England. The majority of practicing politicians, mostly those in the new states of the West, called themselves Jeffersonians. New issues associated with the economic development of the West and the growing number of urban workers in the East demanded attention. The administrations (1817-25) of James Monroe were referred to as the Era of Good Feelings, meaning that there were no real party divisions; in fact, the Jeffersonians dominated the period. This situation ended with a split among the Democratic- Republicans in 1824. Democratic Party This American political party was founded around Thomas Jefferson and opposed to Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists. The party emphasized personal liberty and the limitation of

federal government. Originally called Democratic Republicans, they were called Democrats by 1828. Backed by a coalition of Southern agrarians and Northern city dwellers. Jefferson was elected president in 1800, and the Democrats held the presidency until 1825. A radical group of Democrats led by Andrew Jackson won the elections of 1828 and 1832, but arguments over slavery created and deepened splits within the party, and the Civil War destroyed it. The party revived after the disputed election of 1876. With the nomination in 1896 of W. J. Bryan on a Free Silver platform, the radicals again gained control, but Bryan’s defeat pointed out the difficulty of reconciling the party’s diverse elements. Federalist Party The Federalist Party is a name that was originally applied to the

advocates of ratification of the Constitution of the United States of 1787. Later, however, it came to designate supporters of the presidential administrations of George Washington and John Adams and especially supporters of the financial policies of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Until 1795, the Federalists were not a political organization in any modern sense. Federalism was a frame of mind, a set of attitudes that included belief in a strong and activist central government, public credit, the promotion of commerce and industry, and strict neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars. Opposition arose on all these points and became largely organized around James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. Federalists began to adopt the tactics of the opposition Democratic-Republicans