Parties Begin

The Party System Abides:

• Presidential Elections
• House Elections
• Senate Elections

I.  Federalists and Democrat-Republicans

Jefferson writes to Madison (1793) on the embryonic American parties:

The line is now drawing so clearly as to shew, on one side, 1. the fashionable circles of Phila., N. York, Boston and Charleston (natural aristocrats),4 2. merchants trading on British capitals. 3. paper men, (all the old tories are found in some one of these three descriptions). On the other side are 1. merchants trading on their own capitals. 2. Irish merchants, 3. tradesmen, mechanics, farmers and every other possible description of our citizens.

 

• Source for the anti-Adams ad: volume: Religion and the American Presidency, edited by Gastón Espinosa
• Source for the anti-Jefferson ad: Connecticut Courant, September 26, 1800.
• Additional sources here.

II.  Democrats and Whigs

Andrew Jackson ... and the big block of cheese.

On 1848, Rep. Abraham Lincoln (Whig-Illinois) described Zachary Taylor as the ultimate pro-choice candidate:

Now this is the whole matter. In substance, it is this: The people say to Gen: Taylor ``If you are elected, shall we have a national bank?'' He answers ``Your will, gentlemen, not mine'' ``What about the Tariff?'' ``Say yourselves.'' ``Shall our rivers and harbours be improved?'' ``Just as you please'' ``If you desire a bank, an alteration of the tariff, internal improvements, any, or all, I will not hinder you; if you do not desire them, I will not attempt to force them on you'' ``Send up your members of congress from the va[rious] districts, with opinions according to your own; and if they are for these measures, or any of them, I shall have nothing to oppose; if they are not for them, I shall not, by any appliances whatever, attempt to dragoon them into their adoption[.]'' Now, can there be any difficulty in understanding this? To you democrats, it may not seem like principle; but surely you can not fail to perceive the position plainly enough. The distinction between it, and the position of your candidate is broad and obvious; and I admit, you have a clear right to show it is wrong if you can; but you have no right to pretend you can not see it at all. We see it; and to us it appears like principle, and the best sort of principle at that---the principle of allowing the people to do as they please with their own business.

III.  Civil War, Reconstruction, and Aftermath

This is what real polarization looks like:

IV.  McKinley, Dawes ... and Karl Rove

The Yada Yada Yada version of Republican and Democratic history:

• Republicans airbrush the ignominious end of Reconstruction and the Grant scandals.
• Democrats omit the entire 19th century

V. The New Deal Party System