Evolution Of Political Parties

Political parties have existed in the United States since the administration of President George Washington. America’s first parties were born of the conflict between Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, and Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State. Hamilton, who favored a strong central government and a loose interpretation of the Constitution, headed the Federalist Party. Jefferson, who wanted stronger local governments and believed in a stricter interpretation of the Constitution, led the Democratic-Republicans. At the time, few thought that political parties would last for long (and many hoped they would not), but instead they proved to become a permanent fixture in American politics. In the centuries since political parties
In the 1824 election, Andrew Jackson lost the presidency to John Quincy Adams despite winning the popular vote because no candidate had won an electoral majority. The election was decided in the House of Representatives and John Quincy Adams was named president, thanks to the help of Henry Clay, in what Jackson and his followers would term the “corrupt bargain”. Angered but undeterred, Jackson ran for election again in 1828. This time, he beat Adams, largely as a result of increased voter participation (especially that of uneducated voters) following the relaxation of voting requirements. From this election emerged the two new major parties. The first was Jackson’s Democratic Party and the second was the Anti-Jacksonian Whig Party, headed by Henry
Slavery was over, and so the focus of debate had shifted to economics, and the regional split on these issues shifted from North vs South to East vs West. The Republicans, as proponents of protective tariffs and supporters of urban interests, were the favorite of business and industry. The Democratic Party was favored by farmers and small towns, as they were in support of low tariffs and rural interests. There was, at this time, a notable shift within the Democratic Party, as William Jennings Bryan pulled Democrats along in the direction of his Populist ideals. A contemporary political cartoonist illustrated this by depicting Bryan as a snake swallowing the Democratic donkey. Bryan’s takeover of the Democratic Party could be considered comparable to what Donald Trump is doing to the Republican Party