Political Parties

DEMOCRATIC PARTY

One of the two major political parties in the U.S., historically the party of labour, minorities, and progressive reformers. In the 1790s a group of Thomas Jefferson's supporters called themselves "Democratic Republicans" or "Jeffersonian Republicans" to demonstrate their belief in the principle of popular government and their opposition to monarchism. The party adopted its present name in...

REPUBLICAN PARTY

The term has had a very confusing history. Around 1800 the party system coalesced into Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Broadly, the Federalists were urban and trade-orientated, while the Democratic-Republicans were rural and orientated towards the interests of small farmers. The Democratic-Republicans became the Democratic Party in 1828, Their opponents changed label from Federalist to...