Primary Source Set Political Parties

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Teacher’s Guide

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Background

Political parties have been with this country since the first competitive presidential election in 1796. Despite George Washington’s warnings of the dangers from such divisions, political parties are very much part of the United States’s history, as well as how the U.S. government has operated and will likely continue to do so.

Parties themselves are complex organizations. They have structures, hold meetings, elect people to positions of power, and build entire apparatuses that recruit and fund candidates to compete in elections at different levels of government. They run candidates for office in city, county, state, and national elections. In this sense, parties offer people a way to come together around a common vision for government and to engage and participate in the democratic process.

Parties have evolved over time, for a variety of reasons. Parties have changed their platforms, or the positions they take on a set of issues, to reflect the issues of the day. Parties have also changed as the electorate has changed. For example, as more citizens won the right to vote and participate in elections, parties realigned to attract new voters. Also, at different points in the country’s history, citizens and voters have pushed party leaders to better reflect the realities of their daily lives rather than only the priorities of the party’s elite. In some cases, the positions parties have taken on particular issues, and their willingness or unwillingness to adjust their positions based on the views of their members, has led to major changes in parties’ core constituents.

Some political parties have split or fractured. In some cases, splits within a political party have led to intraparty tension and infighting, and to the development of different wings, such as conservative or liberal, within the party. In other cases, these divisions led to the creation of new parties.

For most of U.S. history, there have been two major political parties—the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. From the Reconstruction era and onward, these two parties competed for political prominence on the national stage. Over time, both parties significantly changed their stances on key issues and have experienced shifts in their voter base. The scope, scale, and services of the federal government, calls for civil rights reform, immigration policy, trade, international relations, and cultural values are among the issues that the two parties have debated – and shifted – their positions on.

While these two parties have dominated the national political scene, minor parties have also made an impact on elections, governing, and civic life. One notable example is the role of the Progressive Party, also called the Bull Moose Party, in the 1912 presidential election. The party’s candidate, Theodore Roosevelt, won a sizeable share of electoral college votes. Though not enough to win the race, the Progressive Party pulled votes away from the major parties and tipped the election in favor of the Democratic Party candidate, Woodrow Wilson. Additionally, members of the Progressive Party continued to push for reforms in government. Voters and party leaders used their power as a spoiler party to pressure elected officials on issues important to their voters.

Highlights—National Political Parties in the United States,1796⁠⁠–2020

1796⁠–1816

Major parties—Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to as Jeffersonian Democrats and Republicans), ⁠Federalists

Minor party—Independent Party

1820⁠–1824

Major party—Democratic-Republican Party

1828⁠–1832

Major party—Democratic-Republican Party

Minor parties—Anti-Masonic Party, National Republican Party

1836⁠–1844

Major parties—Democratic Party, Whig Party

1848⁠–1856

Major parties—Democratic Party, Whig Party

Minor parties—American Party (Know Nothing Party), Free Soil Party

1860

Parties—Constitutional Union Party, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Southern-Democratic Party

1864⁠–1888