Session 4: The Historical Origins of Parties

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Session 4 The Historical Origins of Parties
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Party Systems

• The First Party System 1788-1824 Federalists and
  Democratic-Republicans
• Federalists led by Hamilton and Adams
• Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson
• Presidential election of 1796 elected Adams as
  President and Jefferson as Vice-President

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• As the First Party System dissolved, the
  nomination of a presidential candidate by
  congressional caucus produced the inevitable
  winner of the presidency.
• By 1824 the opportunity to vote was extended to
  non-property owners and it paved the way for an
  external challenge

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• Second Party System, 1828-1854 Democrats Versus
  Whigs, Two-Party Competitive Politics
• Democrats party of Andrew Jackson
• Whigs opposition to Jackson

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• Jackson was defeated in when the Electoral
  College outcome threw the election to the House
• Henry Clay maneuvered a victory for Adams in 1824
• A period of democratization allowed the demise of
  King Caucus
• Factions in the Democratic-Republican Party

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• Jackson takes the label Democrat in 1832
• Jacksons opposition becomes the Whig party
• Partisanship develops in the electorate
• Lack of regionalism or geographic divisions

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The Age of Jackson

• Whig and Democratic parties continued to be
  dominant until the Civil War
• Jackson thought of himself as the tribune of
  the people and sought authority from a closer
  relationship with the electorate
• In 1828 voters rather than state legislatures
  chose presidential electors

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• The Rise of the Party Convention
• First used by Democrats in 1832 and then by Whigs
  in 1836
• Delegates chosen by conventions in each state
  composed of party leaders
• Parties began to reach far beyond Congress

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The Age of Jackson (continued)

• The Party Press emerged 1830s
• The Spoils System
• Whigs imitated the Democratic electoral strategy
  and won a victory in 1840, but a the idea of
  president as popular leader remained
• Second Party System could not survive the crisis
  of the Civil War

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Party Systems