Party, Party, Party! I Want to Party Hardy!

The American political parties have changed since the 1780’s in the sense that not only have they changed their names, but they have also changed some of the rules they follow. In the beginning of Democracy in the US, which was after the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, in 1780 we had two parties. Today’s Democratic party was called the Federalists. They believed in having a strong central government, encouraged commerce and manufacturing, favored having close ties with Britain and emphasized order and stability. In addition, nowadays Democrats also support environmental legislation and limiting economic development.

The Republicans started out in 1780 with no name change at that time. In 1780 they were against the Democratic views on having a strong central government. They, unlike the Federalists have a “strict” interpretation of the Constitution and tended to follow it more rigorously. They also had strength in the South and the West whereas the Federalists had a strong following in the North. While still holding true to defending their position on an Anti-Federalist viewpoint on the US government, they also have stronger ties to Judeo-Christian religions, they don’t believe in abortions, and speculatively favor the higher class/white collar citizens.

Overall, the politicians of 1780 wouldn’t be disappointed, I think, because the ideologies of today’s political parties are, for the most part, the same as they were before.