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Political Parties In The 1800s

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Ever since the start of our country, every four years pits party against party in a race for the most prestigious office in our country. As a two-party system, there is always two main parties who rise to the top in each election. Throughout the years they’ve changed drastically, from the early Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, to the current Democrats and Republicans. Parties ideals change with each new wave of dominant parties, and even with a new president who spins the party on its head. Siding with one party today could mean a whole different thing 100 years ago. Examining the period in which the parties emerged and what they stood for then can help us better understand them today. George Washington forewarned us about political …show more content…

This was the buildup to the Civil War, and a few issues were hotly disputed. Even in the factions themselves, the parties stood divided on some issues. Though whilst the Jacksonian Democrats were firm in their beliefs and stood by them, the Whigs seemed to have views scattered every which way. Divided or vague views did allow the Whigs to pull a wide variety of support though. The Whigs managed a decade of dominance, that included four different Whigs as president, with only a single brief interruption when James Polk won in 1845 by a …show more content…

They believed in the concepts of manifest destiny and patronage, as well as expanding the vote to nearly all white men and laissez-faire economics. Jacksonian Democrats were also opposed to banks and a big federal government, favoring simple gold and silver as money and states’ rights. This drew the support of small farmers and frontier settlers. In contrast, the Whigs had formed when Andrew Jackson came into the presidency, taking the name of a anti-monarchist British party. They strongly opposed “King” Andrew, who had ignored Supreme Court decisions, and the Constitution. They supported the Second National Bank that he had fought against, as well as high tariffs, legislature to lessen the damages of the depression from the late 1830s, and economic growth through business and corporations. However, those seemed to be the only issues the Whigs stood together on. Some were anti-Catholic and spoke out against the working class, while others scorned them and praised the working class. The Whigs were also not necessarily antislavery, but many abolitionists preferred them to the proslavery Democrats. They were also supported by people from all different classes, from merchants to some small farmers, as well as ethnocultural groups like evangelical Protestants and moralists. In both parties, there was a divide between North and South on the issue of slavery, not

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The Whig and Democratic took shape after the Bank War issue. A non-religious movement known as the Anti-Masonry became the first third party. The party established political patterns, organized voters, and partisan government. Even though they were successful they were not able to sustain as a political movement. The Whigs were gaining Jackson supporters while the Democratic were gaining support from upcountry farmers.

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In the United States there are two major parties involved in our political structure, Democrats and Republicans. Since 1836, these two parties have dominated the political scene and Democrats and Republicans have controlled Congress and the presidency since 1860. Now, within these two parties there are people with progressive and conservative ideologies. These ideologies are not confined to only one political party, but instead are largely based on the individual’s opinion and perspective. Generally speaking though, most conservatives are Republicans and most progressives are Democrats.

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During the rise of the Whig party the issue of slavery was one of the main topics in the political debates in the 1850s. The Whig party was divided into pro slavery and abolitionist factions.

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The Whig Party won a victory in the election of 1840 with the aid of strategic changes to their party and the condition of the country. One advantage that the Whigs started out with was that Jackson and the Democrats had gained a bad reputation as a result of the Panic of 1837 and the depression that followed. The Whigs selected a single representative who was a war hero, helping concentrate their votes. They appointed a vice presidential candidate who supported nullification in order to gain Southern votes. Other techniques to gain votes included taking advantage of Jackson’s campaign techniques and reaching out to

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The name, Whig, came from the England. The old Whig party in England was against to the King. So, in America, many people call Jackson “King Andrew” The Whig focused on a lot economic problems as protective tariffs, national banking.

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To make things worse the Whig party began to split over some Whigs being proslavery and others against slavery. And by 1854 most Whigs in the north had joined the newly formed Republican Party including Abraham Lincoln and so the party dissipated. The democratic party, which is separate from the democratic-republican party, was truly all started with the drive and will of one man, Andrew Jackson who held the office from 1829-1837. But if not for many other Americans at the time likening and agreeing with

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There were three political groups: Jacksonians, Whigs and neutrals. The Jacksonian group were democrats, the supporters were usually artisans, laborers and small farmers. They wanted the local businesses to flourish and to detach from Europe. On the other hand, Whigs were the merchants and wealthy people, who came together as a result of their shared hatred of Jackson. The leader of the Whig organization, Henry Clay, tried to persuade the people that if the easterners would help build and pay for the transportation of the products, that the westerners would support the tariffs on the products.

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George Washington had a vision for the United States of America that seems to be unattainable. In his Farewell Address, he gave a strong warning to the nation: don’t create political parties, and don’t create alliances with other nations. While Washington had good intentions, there was little possibility of his warnings being heeded. Political parties were established before Washington even left office, and permanent alliances with foreign militaries show no signs of disappearing. Washington acknowledged that political parties are a part of human nature in his Farewell Address, and that still holds true today.

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The Whigs Party, led by Henry Clay, William Seward, Daniel Webster and Horace Greeley, promoted the industry and manufacturing of the northern states. They were known as leaders of corporations, economic growth, labor, Democratic suffrage and as opponents of expansionism. The Whigs supported the second back of the United States, a high tariff, distribution of land revenues to the states and federal reapportionment of the House seats. They were advocated by free blacks and abolitionists, in addition

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The alliance around Adams and Clay came to form the opposition Whig Party in the 1830s. The Whigs assembled in opposition to Andrew Jackson and believed the federal government should direct and sponsor internal improvements, pass laws to promote agriculture, manufacturing, and the arts, and create a national bank to help develop the economy and spread prosperity across the country. They viewed the market revolution as the embodiment of civilized progress and that a robust federal government enhanced freedom. Democrats under Jackson reduced spending, lowered the tariff, killed the national bank, and refused federal aid for internal improvements. Consequently, states replaced the federal government as main economic players, much to the ire of

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The two parties were the Republicans and the Federalists. The Republicans hoped government took a lesser approach to everyday life. Its individualistic perspective includes living in moderation, be tough, don’t spend more than you have to, and be honest. These lofty goals and ambitions were reasonable in the late 1700’s, early 1800’s, however, now most

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Despite being the only major political party the Democrats experienced a lot of conflict among themselves Eventfully a party known as the Whigs developed. Both the Democrats and Whigs wanted to expand the numbers of voters. They accomplished this by eliminating several voting restrictions put on white males. Like the Federalist the Whigs supported northern merchants. Besides supporting merchants, the only thing members of the Whig party really had in common was there opposition to the Democratic party.

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Henceforth, the Democrats philosophy referred to as “laissez-faire” that the government should not acknowledge business by neither assisting it or hindering it (Wulf, 2006), for this reason, the people would not be burden with taxes support larger businesses. The influencers of the Jacksonian philosophy were Jackson, Buren, and Polk. In opposition to the Jacksonian democracy was the Whigs, which consist of Harrison, Clay, and Webster. The Whigs wanted to strengthen the roads, canals, and other internal improvements to construct a stronger America and viewed Jackson’s approach as ruling like a king. They also favored a federal government (legislature) and that government power could promote moral health by anti-slavery legislation and temperance laws.

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Finally, it will be argued that the modern political party system in the United States is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since 1856. The Democratic Party generally positions itself as centre-left in American politics and supports a modern American liberal platform, while the Republican Party generally positions itself as centre-right and supports a modern American conservative platform. (Nichols, 1967)

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Political parties serve countless roles in America’s government. Foremost, it needs to be said they are crucial to America’s political system. The political parties are the heart and brain of our government's body, urging people to conceive and feel different ways on different topics whether the controversy is over how money is distributed or the way immigrants should be treated or dealt with. With each party having a biased view it shows how a group can be increasingly powerful with bountiful amounts of support, names and divisions can be heard. Democrats are widely known to be liberal rather than conservative.

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