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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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