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Eras
All of the eras that are made up of the political parties. -
First Party System (Federalists and Jeffersonian Democrats)
The First Party System is a model of American politics used by political scientists and historians to periodize the political party system existing in the United States between roughly 1792 and 1824. It featured two national parties competing for control of the presidency, Congress, and the states: the Federalist Party was created by Alexander Hamilton and was dominant to 1800. The rival Republican Party (Democratic-Republican Party) was created by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and was dom -
First election that pitted two parties
Both parties originated in national politics but moved to organize supporters and voters in every state. The Federalists appealed to the business community, the Republicans to the planters and farmers. By 1796 politics in every state was nearly monopolized by the two parties, with party newspapers and caucuses becoming especially effective tools to mobilize voters.
The Federalists promoted the financial system of Treasury Secretary Hamilton, which emphasized federal assumption of state debts, a -
First and only presidential election that was decided by the House of Representatives
In the United States presidential election of 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9, 1825, after the election was decided by the House of Representatives. -
Founding of the Democratic Party
The Democratic party was founded out of the Anti-federalists party in the early 1820's -
Founding of Republican Party
The biggest rival is the Democratic party. It was based off of the Federalist party -
Era of the Democrats (Jacksonian Democrats)
Jacksonian democracy is the political movement toward greater democracy for the common man typified by American politician Andrew Jackson and his supporters. Jackson's policies followed the era of Jeffersonian democracy which dominated the previous political era. The Democratic-Republican Party of the Jeffersonians became factionalized in the 1820s. Jackson's supporters began to form the modern Democratic Party; they fought the rival Adams and Anti-Jacksonian factions, which soon emerged as the -
First National Convention
The 1832 Democratic National Convention was held from 21–23 May, in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the first national convention of the Democratic Party of the United States; it followed presidential nominating conventions held by the Anti-Masonic Party (September 1831) and the National Republican Party (December 1831). The purpose of the convention was to choose a running mate for incumbent President Andrew Jackson. The delegates nominated former Secretary of State Martin Van Buren for Vice Pres -
Return of the Democrats (New Deal Coalition)
From 1860 to 1932, the Republican Party was dominant, as the Democrats elected only two presidents in 72 years, Grover Cleveland (in 1884 and 1892), and Woodrow Wilson (in 1912 and 1916), along with Andrew Johnson taking over after Lincoln's assassination in 1865 (not elected). The party was split between the Bourbon Democrats, representing Eastern business interests, and the agrarian elements comprising poor farmers in the South and West. -
Creation of the Whig Party
Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the presidency and favored a program of modernization and economic protectionism. -
Creation of the Free-Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party and a single-issue party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership consisted of former anti-slavery members of the Whig Party and the Democratic Party. Its main purpose was opposing the expansion of slavery into the western territories, arguing that free men on free -
Famous political debates of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas
The Lincoln–Douglas Debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for Senate in Illinois, and the incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. At the time, U.S. senators were elected by state legislatures; thus Lincoln and Douglas were trying for their respective parties to win control of the Illinois legislature. The debates previewed the issues that Lincoln would face in the aftermath of his victory in the 1860 presidenti -
Era of the Republicans (The Two Republican Eras)
The United States Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous modernization of the economy. It had almost no presence in the South, but in the North it enlisted most former Whigs and former Free Soil Democrats to form majorities, by 1858, in nearly every Northern st -
Most successful third party, Bull Moose Party, runs a candidate for President
The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed after a split in the Republican Party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt. -
Start of the New Era (Era of Divided Government)
The division of government began in this era where one party controls the white house, and the other party controls one or both parts of congress. -
First Presidential Debate on TV
Debates are broadcast live on television and radio. The first debate for the 1960 election drew over 66 million viewers out of a population of 179 million, making it one of the most-watched broadcasts in U.S. television history. The 1980 debates drew 80 million viewers out of a 226 million. By 2000, about 46 million viewers out of a population of 280 million watched the first debate, with ten million fewer watching the subsequent debates that year. In 2004, 62.5 million people watched the first
