HIST 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: French West Indies, Democratic-Republican Party, Utopia
12 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
National political parties, in the modern sense, were unknown to america when. There had been whigs and tories, federalists and anti-federalists, but these groups were factions rather than parties. They had sprung into existence over hotly contested special issues; they had faded away when their cause had triumphed or dissolved. The founders at philadelphia had not envisioned the existence of permanent political parties. Organized opposition to the government, especially a democratic government based on popular consent, seemed tainted by disloyalty. Opposition to the government affronted the spirit of national unity that the glorious cause of the revolution had inspired. But as their antagonism to hamilton stiffened, and as the boisterous and widely read (cid:374)e(cid:449)spapers of the da(cid:455) spread their politi(cid:272)al (cid:373)essage, a(cid:374)d ha(cid:373)ilto(cid:374)"s, among the people, political parties began to emerge. The two-party system has existed in the united states since that time.
