The Democratic Party And The Whig Party

George Washington himself wanted to avoid a party system in America. Unfortunately, even when saying this he was part of the beginning of one of the first parties in United States politics. There have been many different parties surface since the beginning of the American political system. They all have different thoughts, policies, and motivations. Each party has come and gone, some have made significant contributions and others have not. The first split, and beginning of the party system, came with the differentiation between the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. These two parties were extremely different in thought, design, and status of people involved. This paper, will deal with

The major parties since early 1830s in the United States of America were the Democratic Party, organized by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, assembled by Henry Clay from the National Republicans and in opposition to Andrew Jackson.

By 1817 the great American experiment was in full swing. America was developing into an effective democratic nation. However as the democracy continued to grow, two opposing political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Federalists saw it differently. They opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. The seemingly solid divide between Federalist and Republican would begin to blur during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. For, neither Republican president was able lead

For centuries, two main political parties, the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party, have divided the United States government. The Democrats are considered the liberal political party and can trace its roots all the way back to Thomas Jefferson when they were known as Jefferson’s Republicans and they strongly opposed the Federalist Party and their nationalist views. Republicans are considered the conservative political party and try to uphold more traditional values. The Republican Party came into existence just prior to the Civil War due to their long-time stance in favor of the abolition of slavery. In 1860, they became an established political party when their nominee Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of the United States. Since their inception, the Republican and Democratic Party have had many disputes about policies. One of these major debates has focused on educational funding in the United States. The parties have different views on the education system of the country, but both agree there needs a change in some way. Democrats favor more progressive approaches to education, such as implementing the Common Core System, while Republicans tend to favor more conservative changes such as longer hours and more focused programs to better educational resources. In Virginia, Republicans from 1990 to 2013 worked to provide better educational funding more prominently than Democrats.

Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay came from very similar backgrounds, yet they considered each other total opposites in regard to politics and morals. Both men became the leaders of two political parties: The Democrats, headed by Jackson, and the Whigs, headed by Clay. The main topics of debate between Jackson, Clay and their respective parties focused their arguments on the core principals of Clay’s American system, which were subsidies for internal improvements, protective tariffs and most importantly, the National Bank. The two men also had different ways of handling the Nullification Crisis. The debates of these two men impacted the still young nation by bringing up the struggles between democracy and development.

The origins of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties can be traced back to the early 1790s. Initially, the Federalists, or broad constructionists, favored the growth of federal power and a strong central government. The Federalists promulgated a loose interpretation of the Constitution, which meant that they believed that the government could do anything by the implied powers of the Constitution or that congress had the right to interpret the Constitution based on connotation. On the contrary, the Democratic-Republicans favored the protection of states’ rights and the strict containment of federal power. The Democratic-Republicans were strict constructionists and they

In the two-party system, supporters of Jackson were Democrats and supporters of his rival, Henry Clay, were the Whigs. The Democratic Party resembled the old Republican party of Jefferson, while the Whigs represented the Federalist party of Hamilton.

Despite the fact the founding fathers advised contrary to the establishment of political factions as the Constitution withstood the ratification process, a rift amongst men in President George Washington’s cabinet instituted the move toward the conception of political party. During the time period between 1791 and 1833, a two-party system had begun that demonstrated the philosophy of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Although these two political groups were unyielding in their original ideas and beliefs, both had to change a few of their initial standpoints on numerous topics as they dealt with the truth of the government.

The Jacksonian Democratic Party and the Whig Party each, exemplified different beliefs on the role of the federal government in the economy and towards westward expansion in the 1830s and 1840s. However, the Jacksonian, laissez faire supporting Democrats and the economic nationalistic Whig party shared almost no beliefs except for the removal of American Indians in the areas their supporters wished to settle. The lack of similarities is because the Whigs formed their own party to oppose President Jackson’s strong-armed leadership style and policies which earned him the nickname “King Andrew.” The Jacksonian Democratic Party evolved out of the Democratic-Republican Party in the early 1800s, the core of its membership was composed of farmers, immigrants, and white Southerners. The Whigs formed in 1834 and lasted for 20 years, they were the major political party that opposed Andrew Jackson. The Whigs were created based upon the Federalist beliefs in a strong federal government and adopted many Federalist and National Republican policy ideas, including federal funding for internal improvements, a central bank, and high tariffs to protect the growth of manufacturing enterprises. Overall, the Jacksonian Democratic agrarian Party and the industrialization supporting Whig Party had different beliefs toward the role of the federal government in the economy and towards westward expansion.

The opening of the nineteenth century found Thomas Jefferson and James Madison at the forefront of Democratic-Republican party. As the third and fourth presidents of the United States, respectively, Jefferson and Madison held together a country divided by issues such as foreign policy disputes and political sectionalism. Largely supported by Southern farmers and plantation owners, they aimed to strengthen their country through a rigid interpretation of the Constitution. Strict constructionist Democratic-Republicans believed in limiting the strength of the federal government and preserving the rights of the states. They opposed the broad constructionist Federalists, who preferred a loose interpretation of the Constitution—meaning that the government could assume powers not explicitly stated or prohibited in the Constitution. These Federalists also favored a strong, central government to ensure order and organization throughout the country. Jefferson’s election, deemed the “Revolution of 1800,” was a peaceful transfer of power from the former and last Federalist president, John Adams, to the new Democratic-Republican leader. But with this transfer of power came a shift in policies for both parties. Changing circumstances, as well as political and economic pressures, caused both presidents to compromise their beliefs in order to benefit the country; during their presidencies, they behaved as Democratic-Republicans in some respects and as Federalists in other areas. Though

The “corrupt bargain” presidential election of 1824 led the entire nation to become increasingly political which led to the rise of the two-party system. The split between Clay and Adams on the hand and Jackson on the other hand was a key step in the development of the two-party system. By 1824, the followers of Jackson called themselves the Jacksonian and they advocated a strong executive branch, and favored continuous westward expansion. Clay and Adams chose the name National Republicans which they later change to Whig, in honor of Britain’s Whigs who had protested the authoritarian actions of the king of England (thus insinuating that Jackson desired to be a dictatorial King). Clay and Adam advocated a strong legislature, and government-funded internal improvements. The expansion of these various political parties saw the public interest toward politic rose. Because of this rise Political Candidates had no choice but to mingle with the masses and earn their respect and

The Second American Party System was between the Democrats and the Whigs. The Whigs were organized to oppose Andrew Jackson in the early 1830s. The Whigs were the heir to Federalism, favoring a strong national government in the economy like the American System and supported active social reform. Its power was in the North and Old Northwest, voters who would benefit from increased commercialization. The Whigs wanted to

The United States began as a weak, newborn nation that grew into a large, self-supporting country with a governing body unique to this time period. As the government grew and the nation prospered, the rise of leaders and political figures came about and with this, conflicting principles and ideology spawned, thus creating the first of the political parties; the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Although the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans ideology and stances on the power of the federal government, domestic economic policies and the group of constituents they represented differed vastly, members of both parties often compromised their own beliefs for the nation’s best interest as a whole.

Democracy in the United States is based on the indirect representation of the people by elected officials who are usually chosen by direct vote. Almost from the beginning of the United States' history, however, two parties have shared the great majority of the elected positions from the local level to the presidency. However, up until the mid-1850's when the Republican party was formed, other parties such as the Whigs, Federalists, and Anti-Federalists did not last very long. The Democratic Party has existed for much longer, tracing its roots from Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Republican Party beginning around 1792 (Encarta). The two largest parties have changed, third parties have

The first two political parties that were formed in the United States were the federalist and the anti-federalist. The federalist consisted of the northern population, while the anti-federalist were in the south. One of the leaders of the federalist was Alexander Hamilton, with the power that he held and the power of the other federalist, they were able to gain control of the government for the first 10 years. The Democratic-Republic party took shape with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, until 1828 when the name Republican was dropped from the name of the party which lead to the creation of the Democratic Party. Slavery was a very important issue for the United States government during those years, the Whig Party was then formed in order to stop the spreading of slavery into the western territories. The Whig Party came to an end as the Kansas-Nebraska bill of 1854 gave permission to the state to decide if they would be a free or slave state. The anti-slavery Whigs started to gather again in