how the United States developed into a two-party system.

By moorecam

  • The Beginning

    Political factions or parties began to form during the struggle over ratification of the federal Constitution of 1787

  • Friction

    Friction between them increased as attention shifted from the creation of a new federal government to the question of how powerful that federal government would be

  • The Federalists

    The Federalists, led by Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, wanted a strong central government,

  • The Anti federalists

    while the Anti-Federalists, led by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, advocated states’ rights instead of centralized power.

  • The Feds and anti Feds meet

    Federalists coalesced around the commercial sector of the country while their opponents drew their strength from those favoring an agrarian society.

  • The ensuing battle

    The ensuing partisan battles led George Washington to warn of “the baneful effects of the spirit of party” in his Farewell Address as president of United States.

  • start of modern democrats

    The modern Democratic Party emerged in the late 1820s from former factions of the Democratic-Republican Party, which had largely collapsed by 1824. It was built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero Andrew Jackson of Tennessee.

  • The Jacksonian Democrats

    President Andrew Jackson, this movement championed greater rights for the common man and was opposed to any signs of aristocracy in the nation.

  • The birth of Demo-Repubs

    he Founding Fathers sought to ensure a strong government and central banking system with a national bank. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison instead advocated for a smaller and more decentralized government, and formed the Democratic-Republicans.

  • start of modern republicans

    founded in 1854 by opponents of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential expansion of chattel slavery into the western territories. It was simultaneously strengthened by the collapse of the Whig Party, which had previously been one of the two major parties in the country.

  • The party of Lincoln (first Republican)

    With the election of Abraham Lincoln (the first Republican president) in 1860, the Party's success in guiding the Union to victory in the American Civil War, and the Party's role in the abolition of slavery, the Republican Party largely dominated the national political scene until 1932.

  • The domination of Demo Re-pubs

    At the beginning of the 19th century the Democratic-Republicans were largely victorious and dominant. The Federalists, in turn, slowly faded, eventually dissolving. John Quincy Adams won the presidency, in spite of Andrew Jackson winning the popular vote. This sparked a strong political division within the party.

  • Roosevelt Democrats (first democrats)

    The New Deal Coalition was an American political coalition that supported the Democratic Party from 1932 until the late 1960s. The coalition is named after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs and was composed of voting blocs who supported Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression.