Political Parties in the Making: 1789-1860

In the beginning there were two parties: Patriots and Loyalists. During the Revolutionary era the colonies were sharply divided into those who desired to remain under the Crown and those who desired to break free. Those two parties, however, shared one common objective: At a time when most colonists were unhappy with British rule, which they saw as heavy-handed if not outright destructive, most politically aware colonists sought some reasonable way to get out from under what they saw as British economic pressure, if not outright tyranny. The initial break in political attitudes, then, was how to proceed in order to achieve American rights: independence or reform. By the time the fighting started in 1775 hopes for reform were slim; and of course once independence was declared, reform was no longer an issue. It was either, in the words of some patriots, “liberty or slavery,” or the more extreme view, in the words of Patrick Henry, “liberty or death.”

With victory over teh British, of course, the Patriots won the day, and thousands of Loyalists left for Canada or England, unwilling to live under a new and untried form of government. Some of the fighting during the revolution between patriots and loyalists had been the most vicious and brutal of the entire war. What many loyalists perceived as crimes committed against them were deemed unforgivable, so they left.

The government established during the Revolution was that of the Articles of Confederation, sufficient for winning the war but lacking most of the powers of a legitimate central authority. The idea of republican rule was still a radical notion, and the contrast between a monarch and a democratic government was to some the difference between “one tyrant 3000 miles away and 3000 tyrants 1 mile away.” Those who embraced that view were comfortable with the loose federal structure of the Articles of Confederation, under which the new states retained much of their sovereignty.

Another group, feeling that for a stable economic system, an adequate defense posture, and a system of legal authority which would embrace all the states, a stronger form of government was required. That group, which included George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, among others, persuaded the Confederation Congress to call what became the Constitutional convention of 1787. The document which they wrote indeed created a much stronger central government and raised concerns among much of the population. Those who supported the new constitution were known as Federalists, those who opposed it were the Anti-Federalists. When the Federalists carried the day and ratification was achieved, the Anti-Federalists could comfort themselves by the fact that the first Congress adopted their recommended amendments to the new Constitution in the form of the Bill of Rights.

As a new constitutional government got under way the Federalists became a political party by the same name, whose leaders were Washington, Hamilton, John Jay and John Adams. The Anti-Federalists, whose reason for existence in a sense expired when ratification was achieved, soon evolved into a new party, the Democratic-Republicans, known as Republicans. Many of them came from those who had opposed ratification of the Constitution, but others, most notably Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, although they had supported the Constitution originally, moved into the camp of those who were afraid that the federal government might achieve too much power.

Thus the American two-party system was formed, and with some exceptions it would dominate the American political scene down to the present time. While we in the modern age are used to political conflict, especially in the time of national elections, we should acknowledge that in the early days of political differences were at least as fiercely contested as anything seen in modern America. The 1790s in particular were a time of great political discord. It was a bitter time in American politics, and personalities were attacked on both sides of the political divide. Even the much revered George Washington did not escape the barbs of political opponents. Much of the anger was based on fear that the grand experiment in republican government might not survive. Furthermore, the fear of strong central power expressed during the ratification debates persisted. People were concerned with safeguarding personal freedom and feared that liberty as they understood it might not survive. Those feelings were heightened by the specter of the revolutionary turmoil in France.

On the other hand, the more conservative element of the population feared that the excess of democracy which seemed to have created utter chaos in France might infect teh United States. The relatively close restrictions on voting in the early years of the Republic were a measure of widespread concerns over what might have been called mob rule, or the tyranny of the masses. In modern parlance, the thought would have been that they feared that the inmates would wind up running the asylum. The Federalist Party evolved largely from this latter group.

Both parties—Federalist and Republicans—thought they understood the meaning of the American Revolution and the nature of republican government as defined by the Constitution. The stakes were high, and feelings quickly grew bitter between the two parties. One historian has suggested that the party differences during the 1790s were so acute that if the Republicans had not won the election of 1800, the country might well have degenerated into something approaching civil war.

Nevertheless, the two party system prevailed and in fact in the long run lent great stability to the American political process. (Many nations in the Western world have experienced periods of instability or even upheaval as a result of multiparty systems, which frequently lead to instability, if not chaos.) With Jefferson’s victory in 1800 the Republicans were in the ascendancy. The influence of the Federalist party gradually diminished until, in the aftermath of the war of 1812, the party disappeared into oblivion. Although many federalist ideas were carried forward by Chief Justice John Marshall, who served until 1835, the Federalist Party as a viable entity was gone. Thus for a brief time there was really no party system in the United States, as evidenced by the fact that James Monroe ran unopposed for President in 1820. Conversely, with no dominant party, four candidates vied for the presidency in 1824, with three of them receiving significant electoral votes.

Although John Quincy Adams won the election of 1824, supporters of Andrew Jackson felt that he had actually deserve the prize, and in 1828 Jackson and his supporters were vindicated. Thus began a new era in American politics, the age of Jackson, whose political followers became known as the Democratic Party, inheritors of the old Jeffersonian Republican tradition, with distinct modifications. Andrew Jackson was a powerful, for some people a heavy-handed, president, and opponents of Jackson soon coalesced into a new political group who call themselves Whigs, their common cause being chiefly opposition to the man they viewed as “King Andrew.” Jackson’s Democratic Party continued to evolve but has remained essentially intact into the 21st century.

For a variety of reasons, many of them having to do with the institution of slavery, the Whig Party disintegrated in the early 1850s, but it was soon replaced by a new political entity consisting of former Whigs, disaffected Democrats, and others of various particular persuasions. In 1854 they were organized as the Republican Party, and they ran their first campaign for president in 1856 under the banner of John C. Frémont. They elected their first president, Abraham Lincoln, in 1860, and the Republican Party has continued from that time into our age.

The terms liberal and conservative have distinct meanings in modern American political discourse, and both parties are fond of harkening back to their original roots. Curiously, Thomas Jefferson represents a figure whose distinct political views have been claimed by both sides in the modern era.

Very clearly, in his time, Jefferson was a liberal, perhaps even a radical liberal. We should recall that in those days the very idea of republican government was radical to many, especially in Europe. What liberalism in Jefferson’s time and was an opposition to government authority in this century’s leading up to the American Revolution two forces had dominated people’s lives: political authority, generally in the person of an emperor or monarch, and the church, whether Catholic or Protestant.

With the church essentially set aside by the First Amendment to the Constitution, the force that had the greatest power to control, constrict, or inhibit people’s right to life liberty and happiness was government. Thus, like many moderate conservatives, Jefferson was opposed to big government.

The trance formation in attitudes about government came with the industrial revolution. During the latter half of the 19th century industrial leaders, bankers, in a word “capitalists,” became the dominant force in people’s lives as government grew relatively weak as opposed to these gigantic corporations led by a man who became known as the “Robber Barons.” For middle and working class people in the United States before the turn of the 20th century, the force which will could most restrict and inhibit people’s pursuit of life liberty and happiness, especially in the form of property, was big business.

As became apparent during the Progressive Era, the only force capable of restricting or controlling the power of big business with government, if necessary big government. The president who personified opposition to big business was progressive President Theodore Roosevelt. As he makes clear in his own autobiography, his enemies were conservatives. And although Theodore Roosevelt was not in favor of big government for government’s sake, he clearly realized that for the American people to lead the lives they wanted to live, business would have to be controlled. Thus liberals, or in the case of Theodore Roosevelt, Progressives, saw big government is the answer to people’s problems and not the cause.

It is interesting to note that a term which was, in 50 years ago in American politics, that of liberal Republican, has disappeared. In its absence, Republicans who desire to associate themselves with moderate or even liberal positions generally call themselves progressives.

Major Outlines of the First Two American Parties
Federalists	(Democratic) Republicans
Adams/Hamilton/Marshall	Jefferson/Madison
Well-born leaders	Talented leaders; meritocracy
Conservative/monarchy	Liberal/democratic-republican
Pro-British	Pro-French
Strong federal government	States’ rights/limited federal power
Strong judiciary	Strong legislature; weak courts
Permanent debt financed by wealthy	Elimination of national debt
Support merchants/manufacturing	Support farmers, artisans
Property qualifications to vote	Open vote
Evolved into Whigs in the Jackson years, then Republicans in 1854.	Evolved into the Democratic Party under Jackson in 1828.

The point of this exercise is to examine the history of American political parties in the early Republica with the above as background.

Political Parties in the Making: 1776-1860