THE POLITICAL PARTIES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
At the time of the signing of the United States Constitution (in 1787), there were no political parties
within the nation. And, the “Founding Fathers” never intended to have political parties due to the
“inherent” dangers of domestic, political factions. In addition, the first President of the United States,
the great George Washington (1732-1799), was not a member of any party throughout his tenure as
chief executive: President Washington (1789-1797), personally and politically, opposed the forming of
political parties. He felt that political parties, by their very nature, would cause “conflict and
stagnation.”
Nevertheless, political parties arose, quickly, after the signing of the Constitution as a means of
“mobilizing” supporters and voters. Ironically, the beginnings of the American “two-party system”
emerged from Washington’s immediate circle of advisers which included Alexander Hamilton
(Washington’s Secretary of Treasury [1789-1795]); and James Madison, Jr.
(An U. S. political party is an [political] organization which seeks to “influence” governmental policies.
Typically, it nominates its own “candidates” which it attempts to “seat” into various, political offices:
local, state and/or federal. Often, a party states a specific “ideology” or vision in the form of a written
“platform” with specific objectives: frequently, forming a “coalition” [A pact or treaty among individuals
or groups which join “forces” to achieve a “common” good or cause.] among similar and/or disparate
points of view.)
One way of understanding the development of the “two-party” system within the United States is to
separate it into five eras or periods: (1) the first party system; (2) the second party system; (3) the third
party system; (4) the fourth parity system; and (5) the fifth party system.
For the purposes of this work, era “1” and era “2” will be discussed below.
(A third party is one that exists outside of the U. S. “two-party” system. This phase has been expanded
to include “independents” [voters who are not “affiliated” with a political party] and/or “write-in”
candidates [candidates who do not appear on a given, election ballot].
Parenthetically, the “two-party” system has existed for over two hundred years within the United
States. It is based upon the concepts of Duverger’s law (a “winner takes all” system) and plurality voting
(a single-winner voting system in which the “winner” does not have to achieve an “absolute majority”
[more than half of an entire membership]).
(A “simple majority” is one in which more than half of those actually voting [within a membership] is
required to win.)
(1) The first party system encompassed the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party.
The Federalist Party (1792-1820) was the first, political party within the United States. It was founded
by Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) who built a “net-work” of supports, mostly urban bankers and
urban businesspersons, in order to “ground” fiscal policies which favored their and the nation’s
interests: the Federalist Party (FP) was committed to a fiscally, sound policies as well as to a strong,
nationalistic (centralistic) government.
(The members of the FP viewed themselves as “superior” to the common man: that “liberty” was for
them only. They believed that men were, in essence, unequal; that vox populi [the “voice of the
people”] is rarely if ever vox Dei [the voice of God]. Thus, the American “oligarchs” needed “to rule and
to control” the American many because only they [God’s chosen] could hear, interpret, and act upon the
will of the vox Dei.)
The FP or “black cockades” called for a national bank, tariffs, and a “more positive” relationship with
Great Britain (as represented in and by the Treaty of London of 1794).
(The Jay Treaty was between the United States and Great Britain [The ratification of this treaty was
credited with avoiding a second, American Revolutionary War.]. The treaty resolved “some remaining
issues which were left over” from the Treaty of Paris of 1783 [The Treaty of Paris ended the American
Revolutionary War in 1783.].
Because the treaty was strongly supported by President George Washington [1789-1797], it was ratified
by two-thirds majority of the U. S. Senate in November of 1794. The treaty was officially ratified [by
both countries] in 1796: the treaty’s effective date was February 29, 1796.
The process of the negotiation and of the ratification of this treaty was one of the principal, “flashpoint”
issues which led to the formation of the first political parties within the United States [1792].)
The Democratic-Republican Party (D-RP) or the Republican Party (1792-1825) was founded by Thomas
Jefferson (1743-1826) and by John Madison, Jr. (1751-1836). The D-RP was formed to “counteract” the
programs of the FP.
The D-RP or the “red, white and blue cockades” insisted on a “strict construction” (the limiting or
restriction of judicial interpretation) of the U. S. Constitution. It opposed the Treaty of London as well as
the notion of a central bank. It supported a positive relationship with revolutionary France at a time
when France was at war with Britain. And, it emphasized “states’ rights” and the importance of the
“landed” framer/planters “over bankers, industrialists, merchants, and investors.”
The D-RP was “strongest in the South and weakest in the Northeast.” It dominated the first party
system “until partisanship itself withered away” after 1816. The presidents selected by the D-RP were
Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), James Madison (1809-1817), and James Monroe (1817-1825).
(2) The second party system happened when the D-RP “ruptured” into two parties.
After the D-RP’s caucus, in the U. S. Congress, started losing its ability to act “with one voice” (due to the
extreme, internal friction of its membership in 1824), it “fragmented” into separate factions. One
“faction” (which supported Andrew Jackson [1767-1845]) evolved into the current, Democratic Party
and the other “faction” (the “National Republicans”: which was led by John Quincy Adams [1767-1848]
and Henry Clay, Sr. [1777-1852]) developed into the Whig Party (the predecessor to the current,
Republican Party).
The Jacksonian Democratic Party (JDP) expounded the principles of expanded suffrage (to all “white
men”, not just to “white men who owned land”), manifest destiny (of “white men” settling the American
West), patronage (the “spoils system” of placing political supports into appointed offices), strict
constructionism (protecting “states rights” against federal encroachment), and Laissez-faire economics
(the “non-interference” of the federal government in the states’ economic affairs which would include
the “absence” of a national bank system).
The JDP functioned as an effective party from 1828 until 1850: its presidents were Andrew Jackson,
Martin Van Buren, and James Polk.
The Whig Party (WP), between the 1830’s and the 1850’s, supported “the supremacy of the U. S.
Congress over the U. S. presidency” as well as favored programs which emphasized “modernization” and
“economic protectionism.” Over time, the WP’s leaders were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, William
Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, Winfield Scott, Willie Person Mangum, Millard Fillmore, John
Bell, and Hugh Lawson White.
And most notably, the WP’s leader, in Illinois, was the great politician and president, Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865).
(The name, Whig, was then a “widely recognized label of choice” for individuals who wished to identify
themselves as “opposing tyranny’: it was taken from the American Whigs of 1776. The “Rebels” or
“Congress-Men” were colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who, in July of 1776, declared the
United States of America as an independent nation: that is, independent of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland.)
The issue of American slavery (as well as some other issues) destroyed the WP in the 1850’s (starting
with the Compromise of 1850).
(The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September of 1850, which defused a
four-year confrontation between the “slave” states of the South and the “free” states of the North. The
compromise, drafted by Henry Clay, concerned the territories “acquired” during the Mexican-American
War (1846-1848) and the issue of the extension of the “industry of slavery” to the “acquired” lands.
The “Compromise” was and is a national disgrace. The American few sold [to the American many] the
proposition of extending slavery, with “limitations”, based upon the false hopes of avoiding secession
and/or of avoiding civil war and/or of avoiding, future [and more destructive] sectional conflicts. The
Whig, Henry Clay, and the Democrat, Stephen Douglas, were, unfortunately, the “front persons” for the
American few: what is unethical and what is immoral can never be made legal, for very long. The
American Civil War (1861-1865) was the direct result of this “Compromise” [which was legislated to
insure the wealth of the Christian chosen: the American “oligarchs.”]).
In modern terms (Why Politics Is Fun from Catbirds’ Seats, Neuhart, 2004), the major, political parties
(by registered voters in descending order) are: the Democratic Party (72 million), the Republican Party
(55 million), the Constitution Party (.37 million), the Green Party (.31 million), and the Libertarian Party
(.20 million). Still, the largest, third parties (the Constitution Party, the Green Party, and the Libertarian
Party) have achieved some minor representation on the national and state levels of government.
And, if the independent voters (currently, 42 million and counting) were conceived as a political party,
they would be classified as the third, largest party within the United States of America.
(Remember, the dramatic rise in the number of independent voters is a “function of” or “a measure of”
the extreme dissatisfaction of the American many with the existing, “two-party” system.)
The Democratic Party (DP), the “Blues”, is the largest, political party within the United Sates (by
registered voters: 42.5% of 169 million). Also, the DP is the oldest party (founded in1792).
The DP has produced 15, U. S. presidents. Its “primary ideologies” are American liberalism and
American progressivism.
(The above statement is an over simplification. In truth, the present DP represents the entire spectrum
of political believes.)
Among representative, “changes to the status quo” issues (abortion restrictions; public , campaign
finance; legalize same sex marriage; universal health care; more progressive taxation; immigration
reform; ending capital punishment; drug liberalization; and civilian gun control), it currently supports
universal health care and more progressive taxation. Unofficially (and in reality), it is an advocate for
the corporate “takeover” of the United States of America by the American “oligarchs.”
The Republican Party (RP), the “Reds”, is the second, largest party within the United States (by
registered voters: 32.5% of 169 million). It was founded in 1854.
(Again, the above statement is an over simplification. In reality, the current RP embodies the entire
spectrum of political views.)
The RP has generated 19, U. S. presidents. Its “primary ideologies” are American conservatism and
American neo-conservatism.
Among representative, “changes to the status quo” issues, it currently supports abortion restrictions
and strengthening immigration laws. Officially, it is a strong advocate for the corporate “takeover” of
the United States of America by the American “oligarchs.”
Both the “Blue” and the “Red” parties are becoming the FP of 1792; they are becoming Hitler’s Nazi
Party of the 1930’s and the 1940’s; and they are the American “oligarchs” of the 21st Century.
George Washington was correct about the purpose of political parties: by their very nature they cause
“conflict and stagnation.”
The political parties within the United States are allowing the American few to feed upon the existence
of the American many in their support of the corporate “take over” of the nation.
Has anyone read the George Santayana [1863-1952]? This great, Spanish American philosopher
understood that because of the “inbreeding” of the “oligarchs” they are doomed to repeat history again,
and again, and again….
The only “cure” for their genetic defects is a “generous” infusion of “diversity.”
Of course, they will refuse such a cure. They always want to “strengthen” immigration restrictions: they
are really, really afraid of “equality” under the law.
Post Script:
The American “oligarchs” and their “purchased” political parties are attempting to end American
democracy through the “actions” of their willing, “front organizations”: the executive, the legislative,
and the judicial branches of the U. S. government.
The “inactions” of the American many will assist them in the destruction of American democracy; and,
the “actions” of the American many will stop them.
These “superior beings” have so little game left: only a little “push back” will do.
And, if they require a little more “push back”, it can be arranged for them: remember, the vox Dei is
also heard through “the people from elsewhere.”
Or do they really, really think that they can load the American many onto their corporate, freight trains
for transporting and for processing? Or do they really, really think that the American many will allow
death by “indifferencecide” (by the elimination of the “safety-net, social security programs)? And, do
they really, really think that the veterans of all the American “conflicts” since the Korean War [19501953] will “stand by” and that they will “watch” the genocide of disenfranchised Americans?
Truly, the American “oligarchs” are living an “insulated” existence: there will be no “Nuremberg Laws”
here!
To hell with the “oligarchs” (the American few) and their “familiars” (the political parties of the “black
cockades”, of the “red, white, and blue cockades”, of the “Blues”, of the “Reds”, of the three branches
of the U. S. government, and of all those who simply watch while “injustices” are imposed upon the
helpless),
Fromoneofthemany