This piece, part two of a two-part series, will pick up where part one left off, at the demise of the Federalist Party and the emergence of the Democratic-Republican Party. It will then explore the remaining history of American political parties up to this day.
The party system in the United States was born as the Federalists, in favor of central government and industry, and the Anti-Federalists, in favor of states rights and farming, struggled for power. As part of the deal that ended with the ratification of the Constitution, the two parties agreed that a body elect would choose the President and the Vice President, not the people themselves. This was the method of choosing the President until 1824, when the system we have now was put into place. George Washington was unanimously elected by electoral vote as the first President and John Adams was his Vice-President.
The Federalists' demise began in 1790. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson took opposing sides on the formation of a central bank and the beginning of a national debt. Jefferson became head of what would become the Democratic-Republican Party, denouncing the Federalists as no better than the king himself. Washington and Adams were voted in again, and The Federalists hung onto power. Nonetheless, the makings of the first real American Heavyweight bout were underway. In the champion's corner, was John Adams for President representing the Federalists. In the challenger's corner, were Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party. Washington decided to retire as his Administration was harshly criticized over policy. In the ensuing election, Adams received 71 electoral votes to Jefferson's 68. So much for unanimous elections and harmonious political existence! The result was that Adams became President and Jefferson became Vice-President.
Into the 1800's, the Republican and Democratic parties remained aligned with the Republican party growing in strength. As a result, the federal government grew and strengthened, as well. The government was growing in scope of power too. The "Sedition Law," which punished "any false, scandalous, or malicious writing against the government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President," was considered a despotic act. Jefferson and the Republicans won in 1800 and Aaron Burr, the Democratic Party leader, became Vice-President. The Federalist Party was no more. The Democratic - Republican Party for the time being would reign supremely. The effort to strengthen the central government excessively at the expense of the power of the states had come to naught, and the Federalists, as a well-defined party, gradually vanished from existence.
With the Democratic-Republican Party firmly in power, many unpopular laws were repealed, and the federal government went back about its business. Over the next 30 years, the Democratic-Republican Party slowly became two more distinct parties.
In 1834, as the National Republican Party faded into the background, the Whig Party was born with leaders like Daniel Webster, who favored Congressional power over Presidential power. The Whigs wanted to expand the national government (and the country itself) westward. In 1840, the first Whig president, William Henry Harrison, was elected. The last Whig president, Zachary Taylor, was elected in 1848. The Whigs were not around for very long. Mediocre sitcoms on television have lasted longer than the Whigs. In 1854, the Republican Party reformed, bolstered by support from the tattered Whigs and the independent Free Soldiers.
By 1860, the issue of slavery and state rights dominated the political landscape. The country was divided North and South. The Democratic Party literally split in two, just like the nation would a year later. The Southern Democrats were in favor of the federal protection of slavery in the western territories, the Northern Democrats were not. They wanted the Supreme Court to handle the issue. This led to the election of a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, who firmly believed that the Union would be held together by the federal government at all costs. His policies and the divided nation's conflicting views led to the bloody, divisive, four-year long Civil War that lasted from 1861 until 1865. The Reconstruction Years that followed saw the South lose most of its political sway for the next few decades.
By the 1890's, the Democratic and Republican parties, mostly as we know them today, were firmly entrenched as the two major political parties that controlled United States Politics. Republicans became known as the conservative or right-wing party, and Democrats became known as the liberal or left-wing party. The parties themselves became entrenched in their positions, growing further and further apart in their philosophies, getting more and more concerned with Republican or Democratic values and less concerned with the values of the American citizens they governed. The divide between party values and American values varied so widely that Teddy Roosevelt broke his own party apart during the election of 1912.
Teddy Roosevelt was a very American major disruptive factor in the 1912 presidential election, 4 years after he declined to run for President for a 3rd term. He found the policies of his own party's President, William Howard Taft, to be far too conservative for his liking. After a rift at the Republican Convention, Teddy formed the Bull Moose Party and took enough Republican votes from Taft to allow Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the Presidency.
Little in the two political party system has changed in the past 100 years since the election of 1912, with the exception of an occasional Independent like Ross Perot who popped up in the 1980's, and 1990's to make some noise, until very recently. CNBC financial analyst Rick Santelli hit on a nerve on a broadcast after the financial crisis of 2008 erupted. Upset with more bailouts of people who bought houses they could not afford and people who financed those houses, Santelli said: "We're thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July! All you capitalists that want to show up at Lake Michigan I'm organizing a party!"
The Tea Party movement was born. Though Santelli is not affiliated with the Tea Party directly, he said some things that many Americans felt at the time. Many like Santelli were vocally tired of big government and special interest politicians taking tax money and throwing it at every problem in the hopes of fixing it. Santelli and the traders on the floor on that show expressed; that they were tired of a government that is self-perpetuating for government's sake instead of for its people's sake. The Founding Fathers were right, the danger of any political system, even a well-intentioned one, is that it will grow to a point where its only concern is maintaining political power at any cost.
The Obama Administration came in preaching change, and they are not the problem. Even if, they truly believed they could enforce change when they took office, the two-party systems don't allow it. Policy change would allow a shift in the balance of power. That hasn't occurred in this country since the Whigs threw a curve ball to the power grid of this country's political framework back in the 1840's. However, the fact is, change can be a good thing. The Founding Fathers demanded change. A new voice or view-point could help the country get a new perspective. It is obvious the Tea Party has managed to get a lot of people involved in politics who were never involved before. Besides even more people getting involved with different views and different voices would be better. That is what a democracy is about. Self governance that is equally participated in and therefore, equally represented.
The Tea Party has swelled in its ranks since members started forming protests a few weeks after the Santelli rant. Since then, the fledgling movement has grown rapidly in America, sponsoring hundreds of protests, boasting millions of members, and affecting the 2010 elections that swayed the balance of power once again from one party, the Democratic Party, to two parties. The Tea Party, however, is not yet an official, political party in America. The line between self governance and being ruled over is a fine line, that's what makes the project the Founding Fathers did with the Constitution so miraculous. However even they knew that it would require effort, perseverance, vigilance and participation to make a true Democratic Republic work.
As Benjamin Franklin famously said just after the Constitution was ratified, "Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy? A republic, if you can keep it." With more participation from the American people and more effort from those being governed, America will stand as a republic for many years to come, but it's not politics or political parties that make America strong, it's the people who make up the nation, who believe in freedom and who fight for what is just. Sometimes it just takes a new voice to remind every one of that fact.
As for what Ben Franklin might think of the Republic today and whether or not all Americans should be aware and involved in the politics of the nation to maintain it, I think Ben might have said: "Let's have a cup of tea and talk about it. With some good open honest discussion, always there's a consensus to be found that can satisfy us all!" On the other hand, then, he always was penny wise and pound smartly!
"In
framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the
great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to
control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control
itself." - Alexander Hamilton
This piece, part two of a two-part series, will pick up where part one left off, at the demise of the Federalist Party and the emergence of the Democratic-Republican Party. It will then explore the remaining history of American political parties up to this day.
The party system in the United States was born as the Federalists, in favor of central government and industry, and the Anti-Federalists, in favor of states rights and farming, struggled for power. As part of the deal that ended with the ratification of the Constitution, the two parties agreed that a body elect would choose the President and the Vice President, not the people themselves. This was the method of choosing the President until 1824, when the system we have now was put into place. George Washington was unanimously elected by electoral vote as the first President and John Adams was his Vice-President.
The Federalists' demise began in 1790. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson took opposing sides on the formation of a central bank and the beginning of a national debt. Jefferson became head of what would become the Democratic-Republican Party, denouncing the Federalists as no better than the king himself. Washington and Adams were voted in again, and The Federalists hung onto power. Nonetheless, the makings of the first real American Heavyweight bout were underway. In the champion's corner, was John Adams for President representing the Federalists. In the challenger's corner, were Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party. Washington decided to retire as his Administration was harshly criticized over policy. In the ensuing election, Adams received 71 electoral votes to Jefferson's 68. So much for unanimous elections and harmonious political existence! The result was that Adams became President and Jefferson became Vice-President.
Into the 1800's, the Republican and Democratic parties remained aligned with the Republican party growing in strength. As a result, the federal government grew and strengthened, as well. The government was growing in scope of power too. The "Sedition Law," which punished "any false, scandalous, or malicious writing against the government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President," was considered a despotic act. Jefferson and the Republicans won in 1800 and Aaron Burr, the Democratic Party leader, became Vice-President. The Federalist Party was no more. The Democratic - Republican Party for the time being would reign supremely. The effort to strengthen the central government excessively at the expense of the power of the states had come to naught, and the Federalists, as a well-defined party, gradually vanished from existence.
With the Democratic-Republican Party firmly in power, many unpopular laws were repealed, and the federal government went back about its business. Over the next 30 years, the Democratic-Republican Party slowly became two more distinct parties.
In 1834, as the National Republican Party faded into the background, the Whig Party was born with leaders like Daniel Webster, who favored Congressional power over Presidential power. The Whigs wanted to expand the national government (and the country itself) westward. In 1840, the first Whig president, William Henry Harrison, was elected. The last Whig president, Zachary Taylor, was elected in 1848. The Whigs were not around for very long. Mediocre sitcoms on television have lasted longer than the Whigs. In 1854, the Republican Party reformed, bolstered by support from the tattered Whigs and the independent Free Soldiers.
By 1860, the issue of slavery and state rights dominated the political landscape. The country was divided North and South. The Democratic Party literally split in two, just like the nation would a year later. The Southern Democrats were in favor of the federal protection of slavery in the western territories, the Northern Democrats were not. They wanted the Supreme Court to handle the issue. This led to the election of a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, who firmly believed that the Union would be held together by the federal government at all costs. His policies and the divided nation's conflicting views led to the bloody, divisive, four-year long Civil War that lasted from 1861 until 1865. The Reconstruction Years that followed saw the South lose most of its political sway for the next few decades.
By the 1890's, the Democratic and Republican parties, mostly as we know them today, were firmly entrenched as the two major political parties that controlled United States Politics. Republicans became known as the conservative or right-wing party, and Democrats became known as the liberal or left-wing party. The parties themselves became entrenched in their positions, growing further and further apart in their philosophies, getting more and more concerned with Republican or Democratic values and less concerned with the values of the American citizens they governed. The divide between party values and American values varied so widely that Teddy Roosevelt broke his own party apart during the election of 1912.
Teddy Roosevelt was a very American major disruptive factor in the 1912 presidential election, 4 years after he declined to run for President for a 3rd term. He found the policies of his own party's President, William Howard Taft, to be far too conservative for his liking. After a rift at the Republican Convention, Teddy formed the Bull Moose Party and took enough Republican votes from Taft to allow Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the Presidency.
Little in the two political party system has changed in the past 100 years since the election of 1912, with the exception of an occasional Independent like Ross Perot who popped up in the 1980's, and 1990's to make some noise, until very recently. CNBC financial analyst Rick Santelli hit on a nerve on a broadcast after the financial crisis of 2008 erupted. Upset with more bailouts of people who bought houses they could not afford and people who financed those houses, Santelli said: "We're thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July! All you capitalists that want to show up at Lake Michigan I'm organizing a party!"
The Tea Party movement was born. Though Santelli is not affiliated with the Tea Party directly, he said some things that many Americans felt at the time. Many like Santelli were vocally tired of big government and special interest politicians taking tax money and throwing it at every problem in the hopes of fixing it. Santelli and the traders on the floor on that show expressed; that they were tired of a government that is self-perpetuating for government's sake instead of for its people's sake. The Founding Fathers were right, the danger of any political system, even a well-intentioned one, is that it will grow to a point where its only concern is maintaining political power at any cost.
The Obama Administration came in preaching change, and they are not the problem. Even if, they truly believed they could enforce change when they took office, the two-party systems don't allow it. Policy change would allow a shift in the balance of power. That hasn't occurred in this country since the Whigs threw a curve ball to the power grid of this country's political framework back in the 1840's. However, the fact is, change can be a good thing. The Founding Fathers demanded change. A new voice or view-point could help the country get a new perspective. It is obvious the Tea Party has managed to get a lot of people involved in politics who were never involved before. Besides even more people getting involved with different views and different voices would be better. That is what a democracy is about. Self governance that is equally participated in and therefore, equally represented.
The Tea Party has swelled in its ranks since members started forming protests a few weeks after the Santelli rant. Since then, the fledgling movement has grown rapidly in America, sponsoring hundreds of protests, boasting millions of members, and affecting the 2010 elections that swayed the balance of power once again from one party, the Democratic Party, to two parties. The Tea Party, however, is not yet an official, political party in America. The line between self governance and being ruled over is a fine line, that's what makes the project the Founding Fathers did with the Constitution so miraculous. However even they knew that it would require effort, perseverance, vigilance and participation to make a true Democratic Republic work.
As Benjamin Franklin famously said just after the Constitution was ratified, "Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy? A republic, if you can keep it." With more participation from the American people and more effort from those being governed, America will stand as a republic for many years to come, but it's not politics or political parties that make America strong, it's the people who make up the nation, who believe in freedom and who fight for what is just. Sometimes it just takes a new voice to remind every one of that fact.
As for what Ben Franklin might think of the Republic today and whether or not all Americans should be aware and involved in the politics of the nation to maintain it, I think Ben might have said: "Let's have a cup of tea and talk about it. With some good open honest discussion, always there's a consensus to be found that can satisfy us all!" On the other hand, then, he always was penny wise and pound smartly!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6192306
This piece, part two of a two-part series, will pick up where part one left off, at the demise of the Federalist Party and the emergence of the Democratic-Republican Party. It will then explore the remaining history of American political parties up to this day.
The party system in the United States was born as the Federalists, in favor of central government and industry, and the Anti-Federalists, in favor of states rights and farming, struggled for power. As part of the deal that ended with the ratification of the Constitution, the two parties agreed that a body elect would choose the President and the Vice President, not the people themselves. This was the method of choosing the President until 1824, when the system we have now was put into place. George Washington was unanimously elected by electoral vote as the first President and John Adams was his Vice-President.
The Federalists' demise began in 1790. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson took opposing sides on the formation of a central bank and the beginning of a national debt. Jefferson became head of what would become the Democratic-Republican Party, denouncing the Federalists as no better than the king himself. Washington and Adams were voted in again, and The Federalists hung onto power. Nonetheless, the makings of the first real American Heavyweight bout were underway. In the champion's corner, was John Adams for President representing the Federalists. In the challenger's corner, were Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party. Washington decided to retire as his Administration was harshly criticized over policy. In the ensuing election, Adams received 71 electoral votes to Jefferson's 68. So much for unanimous elections and harmonious political existence! The result was that Adams became President and Jefferson became Vice-President.
Into the 1800's, the Republican and Democratic parties remained aligned with the Republican party growing in strength. As a result, the federal government grew and strengthened, as well. The government was growing in scope of power too. The "Sedition Law," which punished "any false, scandalous, or malicious writing against the government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President," was considered a despotic act. Jefferson and the Republicans won in 1800 and Aaron Burr, the Democratic Party leader, became Vice-President. The Federalist Party was no more. The Democratic - Republican Party for the time being would reign supremely. The effort to strengthen the central government excessively at the expense of the power of the states had come to naught, and the Federalists, as a well-defined party, gradually vanished from existence.
With the Democratic-Republican Party firmly in power, many unpopular laws were repealed, and the federal government went back about its business. Over the next 30 years, the Democratic-Republican Party slowly became two more distinct parties.
In 1834, as the National Republican Party faded into the background, the Whig Party was born with leaders like Daniel Webster, who favored Congressional power over Presidential power. The Whigs wanted to expand the national government (and the country itself) westward. In 1840, the first Whig president, William Henry Harrison, was elected. The last Whig president, Zachary Taylor, was elected in 1848. The Whigs were not around for very long. Mediocre sitcoms on television have lasted longer than the Whigs. In 1854, the Republican Party reformed, bolstered by support from the tattered Whigs and the independent Free Soldiers.
By 1860, the issue of slavery and state rights dominated the political landscape. The country was divided North and South. The Democratic Party literally split in two, just like the nation would a year later. The Southern Democrats were in favor of the federal protection of slavery in the western territories, the Northern Democrats were not. They wanted the Supreme Court to handle the issue. This led to the election of a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, who firmly believed that the Union would be held together by the federal government at all costs. His policies and the divided nation's conflicting views led to the bloody, divisive, four-year long Civil War that lasted from 1861 until 1865. The Reconstruction Years that followed saw the South lose most of its political sway for the next few decades.
By the 1890's, the Democratic and Republican parties, mostly as we know them today, were firmly entrenched as the two major political parties that controlled United States Politics. Republicans became known as the conservative or right-wing party, and Democrats became known as the liberal or left-wing party. The parties themselves became entrenched in their positions, growing further and further apart in their philosophies, getting more and more concerned with Republican or Democratic values and less concerned with the values of the American citizens they governed. The divide between party values and American values varied so widely that Teddy Roosevelt broke his own party apart during the election of 1912.
Teddy Roosevelt was a very American major disruptive factor in the 1912 presidential election, 4 years after he declined to run for President for a 3rd term. He found the policies of his own party's President, William Howard Taft, to be far too conservative for his liking. After a rift at the Republican Convention, Teddy formed the Bull Moose Party and took enough Republican votes from Taft to allow Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the Presidency.
Little in the two political party system has changed in the past 100 years since the election of 1912, with the exception of an occasional Independent like Ross Perot who popped up in the 1980's, and 1990's to make some noise, until very recently. CNBC financial analyst Rick Santelli hit on a nerve on a broadcast after the financial crisis of 2008 erupted. Upset with more bailouts of people who bought houses they could not afford and people who financed those houses, Santelli said: "We're thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July! All you capitalists that want to show up at Lake Michigan I'm organizing a party!"
The Tea Party movement was born. Though Santelli is not affiliated with the Tea Party directly, he said some things that many Americans felt at the time. Many like Santelli were vocally tired of big government and special interest politicians taking tax money and throwing it at every problem in the hopes of fixing it. Santelli and the traders on the floor on that show expressed; that they were tired of a government that is self-perpetuating for government's sake instead of for its people's sake. The Founding Fathers were right, the danger of any political system, even a well-intentioned one, is that it will grow to a point where its only concern is maintaining political power at any cost.
The Obama Administration came in preaching change, and they are not the problem. Even if, they truly believed they could enforce change when they took office, the two-party systems don't allow it. Policy change would allow a shift in the balance of power. That hasn't occurred in this country since the Whigs threw a curve ball to the power grid of this country's political framework back in the 1840's. However, the fact is, change can be a good thing. The Founding Fathers demanded change. A new voice or view-point could help the country get a new perspective. It is obvious the Tea Party has managed to get a lot of people involved in politics who were never involved before. Besides even more people getting involved with different views and different voices would be better. That is what a democracy is about. Self governance that is equally participated in and therefore, equally represented.
The Tea Party has swelled in its ranks since members started forming protests a few weeks after the Santelli rant. Since then, the fledgling movement has grown rapidly in America, sponsoring hundreds of protests, boasting millions of members, and affecting the 2010 elections that swayed the balance of power once again from one party, the Democratic Party, to two parties. The Tea Party, however, is not yet an official, political party in America. The line between self governance and being ruled over is a fine line, that's what makes the project the Founding Fathers did with the Constitution so miraculous. However even they knew that it would require effort, perseverance, vigilance and participation to make a true Democratic Republic work.
As Benjamin Franklin famously said just after the Constitution was ratified, "Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy? A republic, if you can keep it." With more participation from the American people and more effort from those being governed, America will stand as a republic for many years to come, but it's not politics or political parties that make America strong, it's the people who make up the nation, who believe in freedom and who fight for what is just. Sometimes it just takes a new voice to remind every one of that fact.
As for what Ben Franklin might think of the Republic today and whether or not all Americans should be aware and involved in the politics of the nation to maintain it, I think Ben might have said: "Let's have a cup of tea and talk about it. With some good open honest discussion, always there's a consensus to be found that can satisfy us all!" On the other hand, then, he always was penny wise and pound smartly!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6192306
