Democrats from Their Humble Beginnings to Their Contemporary Party Views

Since its existence, America has been shaped by political parties. Shaped by the views of our nation, these organizations have changed the world at each defining age, and helped our country become what it is today. But while people might be able to tell you about Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F Kennedy, they may be hard pressed to find the common thread between them. Sure, they all helped define America during some of its toughest hours, but where was their common ground? They were all members of the United States Democratic Party, a 200 year old organization that has helped shape the country we live in today. The Democratic Party came to existence in the 1820's and has many beliefs and values.

During this article I will discuss the origin of the Democratic Party, what the Democratic Party stands for, and some famous faces of the Democratic Party.
Some historians trace its beginnings to the Democratic-Republican Party that Thomas Jefferson created during the 1790's. Most historians, however, regard Andrew Jackson's presidential campaign organization, formed in 1828, as the beginning of the Democratic Party as it is known today.

According to Sidney M. Milkis, a professor of politics at Brandeis University, Jefferson served as president from 1801 to 1809, and other Democratic-Republicans held the presidency from 1809 to 1825. After 1816, the Democratic-Republican Party split into several groups and fell apart as a national organization. Jackson became the favorite of one of these groups and gained great popularity. He lost a bid for the presidency in 1824. But he easily won election in 1828 and swept to reelection in 1832. By about 1830, Jackson and his followers were called Democrats.

Small farmers, large plantation owners, city laborers, and state bankers joined in their support of the Democratic Party. They had in common a strong belief in states rights and a firm faith in limited government power. But Democrats also disagreed a lot. For example, they argued over banking policies, slavery, and tariff rates. In spite of their differences, Democrats won the presidential election of 1844 with James K. Polk. In 1852, they won with Franklin Pierce and in 1856 with James Buchanan. They also controlled Congress during most of the 1840's and 1850's.

The major disagreement that the Democrats had was the issue of slavery. The North wanted the government to prohibit it, but the south wanted to expand slavery into the new lands which at the time was the Western part of the United States.

Now I will talk about what the Democratic Party stands for.
According to John Jarolimek of pbs.org, Individuals have the right of life, liberty, dignity, security, equality of opportunity, justice, privacy, and private ownership of property. Freedoms of the Individual include the freedom to participate in political process, worship, thought, conscience, assembly, inquiry, and expression. Responsibilities of the Individual are to respect human life, respect the rights of others,
to be tolerant, to be honest, to be compassionate, to demonstrate self-control, to participate in the democratic process and to respect the property of others.Beliefs Concerning Societal Conditions and Governmental Responsibilities consist of societies need laws that are accepted by the majority of the people, dissenting minorities are protected, government is elected by the people, government respects and protects individual rights, government respects and protect individual freedoms, government guarantees civil liberties, and government works for the common good.

Lastly I will talk about some famous faces that have emerged in the Democratic Party.
As I stated in the beginning of this speech there have been quite a few names that pop out at you as you look at the list of presidents from the Democratic Party. The first name that pops out at you is Thomas Jefferson who some say is the founder of the Democratic Party. Woodrow Wilson is another stand out president who led the United States to victory in World War I against Germany. Franklin D. Roosevelt also stands out because of his enormous efforts to bring out country out of the Great Depression in the 1930's and also he led our country to victory in World War II against Germany and Japan. This was just a few of the great presidents that have come from the Democratic side of the fence.

The Democratic Party has been around for over 200 years and has definitely sculpted the United States into what it is today. The Democratic Party has many beliefs and values that I mentioned earlier. It also has produced some of the most productive and loved presidents throughout its 200 year existence in the political world.