The founding fathers who came up with the constitution established the American political landscape. In 1789, George Washington who was then president was worried about factions or groups that would voice political agendas on behalf of the people. It was evident that such factions could harm the power of the main government. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson who served as treasury secretary and secretary of state respectively are both credited with starting the political parties in the US. However, both would often disagree on matters about the constitution. Hamilton proposed the establishment of a national bank and whiskey taxation. He called his party the Federalist Party. He gathered many supporters who joined him in his quest. Jefferson opposed his ideologies from the beginning. Jefferson left cabinet in 1794. Together with Madison, they challenged the Federalist Party through the newspapers. This fueled an anti-federalist movement.
The federalists believed in industrialization and a central national bank. They believed in the government offering support in their quest for industrialization. The anti-federalists on the other hand opposed the establishment of a national bank. They believed in the rights of the states and favored farming to manufacturing. They were also against the government’s help in industrialization.
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The federalists established newspapers that would voice their agendas to the people. Gazette of the United States, Columbian Centinel and American Minerva were some of the newspapers used by the Federalists. The federalists occupied the New England areas and the northeast regions. The whiskey rebellion of 1794 and constant opposition from Jefferson led to an uprising of the anti-federalists. This formed the early Republican Party. They also used newspapers such as National Gazette and Aurora to voice their views to the people. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison soon became the leaders of the opposition.
In 1796, John Adams, a federalist, was elected to presidency in the first presidential election. Thomas Jefferson was later elected as president in 1800 under the Democratic-Republican Party. By 1820s, the Federalist Party was already losing its members. This was due to policy disputes, infighting and a failure to organize support from the public. In 1824, the old Republican Party split into two. The Democratic- Republicans shifted to the Democratic Party and Andrew Jackson won presidency in 1828 under its ticket. The opposition was called the Whig Party which was formerly the National Republicans. This party was interested in economic development and reforms in the constitution. It featured members such as small farmers, natives, evangelicals and even British born people.
The Democrat party lost some of its popularity especially after the failure of president Martin Van Buren who was elected in 1837 during the panic of that year. The Whig Party then assumed power for a short when William Harrison and John Tyler were elected. Unfortunately, they both died in office and hence the Whig Party did not fully gather momentum.
In this era, the party system featured grass root campaigns, door to door canvassing of voters and a spoils system. The spoils system was designed to reward party loyalty among voters. Issues such as slavery caused major divisions in the north and south. Parties such as Free Soil emerged as a campaigner for anti-slavery while American or Know-Nothing campaigned against immigration. By the end of this era, the Whig party disappeared and the Democrats was transformed.
By 1854, slavery and states’ rights were the major issues in the political arena. This tore parties apart especially the Whig Party. These issues divided the country into the Northerners and the Southerners. Those in the south favored slavery while those in the north opposed it. The Republican Party was later formed when Free Soil forces and Anti-slavery forces joined. They wanted to function national interests above state interest. John C. Frémont was elected as president under the Republican Party in 1856. The Republican Party was majorly concerned with issues to do with growth, labor restrictions and tight money policy. Abolition of slavery was also one of the main agendas of the party.
The presidential elections of 1860 was met with a lot of tension especially between the North and South who differed because of their views on slavery. The Southerners wanted a Democrat who could protect slavery in their regions. Stephen A. Douglas practiced sovereignty doctrine, which made him run on a separate Democratic ticket against John C. Breckinridge who was pro- slavery. John Bell was also a candidate under the Constitutional Union Part while the Republicans had Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln won the elections in that year. Following his win, Southern states that promoted slavery started seceding. This prompted the civil war between the union and the confederates. Lincoln used his party machinery in the civil war.
