Volume 13 , Issue 21

Extinct Political Parties of the 1800's

If you trace back the Democratic and Republican parties to the 1800's, the political parties evolution were as follows: Federalist Party, Jeffersonian Republican Party, National Republican Party, Anti-Masonic Party, Whig Party, Liberty Party, Free-Soil Party, Know-Nothing party, and the Greenback Party.

Federalist Party
The Federalist Party was the first American political party. It advocated a strong national government, and prominent Federalists included John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. The Federalists were not a sustaining party apparatus. The party's defeat in the election of 1800 led to its decline. It ceased to be a national party after 1816. In some respects the Whigs were the descendants of the old Federalist Party, supporting the Hamiltonian preference for strong federal action in dealing with national problems.

Jeffersonian Republican Party
The Jeffersonian Republican Party supported Thomas Jefferson for president in 1800. It was formed in opposition to the Federalists. The Jeffersonians tended to be more egalitarian than the Federalists. Following Jefferson's two terms in office, James Madison won the presidency on the Republican ticket in 1808 and 1812, followed by James Monroe in 1816 and 1820. The Jeffersonian Republican Party then faded away. The party was NOT a forerunner of the present day Republican Party. At times it was even called a name which seems contradictory today, the Democratic-Republican Party.

National Republican Party
The National Republican Party supported John Quincy Adams in his bid unsuccessful bid for reelection in 1828 (there had been no party designations in the election of 1824). The party also supported Henry Clay in 1832. The general theme of the National Republican Party was opposition to Andrew Jackson and his policies. The National Republicans generally joined the Whig Party in 1834. The National Republican Party was NOT a forerunner of the Republican Party, which formed in the mid-1850s.

Anti-Masonic Party
The Anti-Masonic Party formed in upstate New York in the late 1820s, following the mysterious death of a member of the masonic order, William Morgan. It was believed that Morgan was killed before he could reveal secrets about the masons and their suspected influence in American politics. The party, while seemingly based on conspiracy theory, gained adherents. And the Anti-Masonic Party actually held the first national political convention in America. Its convention in 1831 nominated William Wirt as its presidential candidate in 1832. Wirt was an odd choice, having once been a mason. And while his candidacy was not successful, he did carry one state, Vermont, in the electoral college. Part of the appeal of the Anti-Masonic Party was its fiery opposition to Andrew Jackson, who happened to be a mason. The Anti-Masonic Party faded into obscurity by 1836 and its members drifted into the Whig Party, which also opposed the policies of Andrew Jackson.

Whig Party
The Whig Party was formed to oppose Andrew Jackson's policies and came together in 1834. The party took its name from a British political party which had opposed the King. The Whigs candidate in 1836, William Henry Harrison, lost to the Democrat Martin Van Buren. But Harrison, with his log cabin and hard cider campaign of 1840, won the presidency, but only serve for a month. The Whigs remained a major party throughout the 1840s, winning the White House again with Zachary Taylor in 1848. But the party splintered, mainly over the issue of slavery. Some Whigs joined the "Know-Nothing Party," and others, most notably Abraham Lincoln, joined the new Republican party in the 1850s.

Liberty Party
The Liberty Party was organized in 1839 by anti-slavery activists who wanted to take the Abolitionist Movement and make it a political movement. As most leading Abolitionists were adamant about being outside politics, this was a novel concept. The party ran a presidential ticket in 1840 and 1844, with James G. Birney, a former slaveholder from Kentucky as their candidate. The Liberty Party drew meager numbers, garnering only two percent of the popular vote in 1844. It has been speculated that the Liberty Party was responsible for splitting the anti-slavery vote in New York state in 1844, thereby denying the state's electoral vote to Henry Clay, the Whig candidate and assuring the election of the slave-owning James Knox Polk. But that assumes Clay would have drawn all the votes cast for the Liberty Party.

Free-Soil Party
The Free-Soil Party came into being in 1848, and was organized to oppose the spread of slavery. The party's candidate for president in 1848 was former president Martin Van Buren. Zachary Taylor of the Whig Party won the 1848 presidential election, but the Free-Soil Party did elect two senators and 14 members of the House of Representatives. The motto of the Free-Soil Party was "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor and Free Men." After Van Buren's defeat in 1848 the party faded and members were eventually absorbed into the Republican Party when it formed in the 1850s.

The Know-Nothing Party
The Know-Nothing Party emerged in the late 1840s as a reaction to immigration to America. After some success in local elections with campaigns rife with bigotry, former president Millard Fillmore ran as the Know-Nothing candidate for president in 1856. Fillmore's campaign was a disaster and the party soon dissolved.

Greenback Party
The Greenback Party was organized at a national convention held in Cleveland, Ohio in 1875. The formation of the party was prompted by difficult economic decisions, and the party advocated the issuing of paper money not backed by gold. Farmers and workers were the party's natural constituency. The Greenbacks ran presidential candidates in 1876, 1880, and 1884, all of whom were unsuccessful. When economic conditions improved, the Greenback Party faded into history. [Extinct Politcal parties of the 1800's]   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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