Changes Through the Years

When the United States was first founded, our “fathers” all came together for a specific cause, freedom from the British government. For the first few years, they worked together and created a stable government for our citizens, however, like in many relationships among people, eventually their differences surfaced. Therefore, when it came time to pick a new leader, two separate “parties” emerged. The key to this division was, those who dreamed of having the United States continue as a nation of farmers versus those who envisioned the merchants and trader elites taking over power. These two political parties became known as the Federalist and the Republicans, however the names and roles of these two parties have greatly changed over the years.

First, we will discuss the Federalist. This group of men favored a strong central government and commercial links with Britain. Hamilton and Adams were two leaders of this group. Hamilton’s vision for the United States was to “be less in a nation of mere cultivators, than in a nation of cultivators and merchants.” This idea came from the fact that Hamilton’s background was strongly connected to working for what he earned and as Wulf said, he has “trade in his blood”.

The second political party was Jefferson and Madison’s Democratic-Republicans. This group of individuals envisioned the United States as an agrarian republic of independent farmers untainted by the corrupting influence of Great Britain. They put a great deal of emphasis on the rights and powers of states and in promotion on individual liberties.

One of the first proposals of the Federalist Party was introduced in 1790.  This was known as Hamilton’s Assumption Plan.  The goal of this plan was to consolidate all of the debts of the 13 original colonies and to combine them into one. However, Madison did not agree on the conditions of the plan and the partnership between he and Hamilton came to an abrupt end. This plan was also denounced by Jefferson, who called it “fugacious”, and said it would “fill society with the spirit of gambling”.

A proposal that the Republicans sought was the idea, adapted by Jefferson from his trip to Europe, of changing the way in which rice was grown in the south. At the time, people farmed in flooded patties, which were often infested with disease such as malaria. Jefferson wanted to change this method to one commonly used in Europe, growing rice in dry fields, also known as upland rice.

As you can see from the short synopsis, America was becoming increasingly divided over almost every aspect of the government. Although this was the first change in American Government it was certainly not the last. Over time, the ideas of each party have changed dramatically. I want to next discuss the current political parties in our country and where they originated.

First, we will discuss the modern day Democratic Party. This party came as a result in Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party. They believed in the President having supremacy above the other branches of government and were opposed to having a Bank of the United States because they felt it would build the country up at the expense of the taxpayers. The identity of the party has remained fairly consistent through today. They are also commonly identified as the Liberal Party and are still currently known for trying to appeal to those across all socio-economic backgrounds. Typically the Democratic Party is known to favor laborers, unions, and minorities while they are known to be opposed to unregulated businesses and having a large capitalistic society. Today they can also be identified by their mascot, which is a donkey.

Our next major political party today is the Republican Party, which has undergone a number of more changes to get to where it is today. The Whigs were also a result of the split that occurred in the Democratic-Republican Party. This group of individuals wanted to see a congress that held power over the executive branch of government as well as policies of modernizations. However, this party was short lived and died around 1850 as a result of lack of leadership. A few years later, our country saw the emergence of the Republican Party. This party was known to be against slavery and identified closely with the former Whig party. Those in the Republican Party were often large businessmen, shop owners, and other clerks and professionals. This party can also be known as the “Conservatives” and is identified by their mascot, an elephant.

Although the names of these parties and ideas have remain consistent over the past many years, occasionally a shift in belief is seen in the parties. Our country also has many other smaller political parties such as the Green Party, Libertarian Party and the independents. In elections, these parties never have much success and have not made a large impact on our current society although; in recent years independent voters have become increasingly important in national elections in deciding the winner between the Democratic and Republican party.

Below is a more detailed chart of the current positions for the Democratic and Republican parties on “hot topics” in America today.

Todays Issues	Democrats	Republicans
Abortion	Yes	No
Same-Sex Marriage	Yes	No
Government Health Care	Yes	No
Capital Punishment	Yes	No
Civilian Gun Control	Yes	No
Immigration Restrictions	No	Yes