According to the official website of the Democratic Party, "Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic party in 1792," so he could promote the bill of rights, and work against the federalists. However, at the time, this was not called the democratic party - they were the Democratic-Republicans. The Green Papers mention that they were initially called Republicans, but since they believed in Democracy, they were more commonly called Democratic-Republicans
. In 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected as the president of the United States, which caused many disagreements among the Democratic Republicans, and in turn, caused them to split into 4 separate factions. Among these 4 groups was the Jacksonian Democrats, which was organized by Andrew Jackson, a war hero, and one of the founding fathers of the Democratic Party. The title "Jacksonian-Democrats" was eventually shortened to "Democrats." Over time, the party continued to evolve, and define itself, until it became the Democratic Party that we all know today.The history of the Democratic party is important to know, and ties in very much with what we are currently learning about political parties. This is because it demonstrates the changes that a political party can go through. Depending on a variety of factors, one of which being who is elected president, can decide the changes that a political party can undergo, which in turn, can effect whether or not people even choose to stay with that party. Cindy Sheehan,
a grieving mother, posted an article online, saying "Why I Am Leaving The Democratic Party." She first mentions that her son was killed in the service, and then describes how she opposes the Iraq war, and George W. Bush for sending our troops into this war. Then, she goes on to say that ever since the government has become majority Democrat, they have done very little to help with ending the Iraq war. "I knew having a Democratic Congress would make no difference in grassroots action. That's why we went to DC when you all were sworn in to tell you that we wanted the troops back from Iraq and BushCo held accountable..." This is an example of a woman who, after all was said and done with the political parties, was deeply affected by the beliefs of each party, and which one had come into power at the time.It is believed by some that the political parties change and alter themselves based on the current events of the time period. In Jake Neighbor's blog, he posted: "Throughout the many years of service the Democratic party went through, they went through a lot of changes, each in which changed as a major event occurred." I fully agree with this - the ideals and beliefs of a party are highly dependant on new issues and circumstances. Take abortion, for instance. 50 years ago, this topic was unheard of, but now, there are people who take a strong political stance on one end of it or the other. Because the Democratic party has chosen a particular side in this, this effects whether or not people would even choose to be in the Democratic party, and it changes the way the party as a whole is viewed.
The Democratic Party
"Party History"
http://www.democrats.org/a/party/history.html
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Richard E. Berg Andersson
The Green Papers
"A Brief History Of American Major Parties"
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/AmericanMajorParties.html
Published: 5/21/01
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Cindy Sheehan
Counter Punch
"An Open Letter To Congress: Why I Am Leaving The Democratic Party"
http://www.counterpunch.org/sheehan05282007.html
Published: 5/28/07
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
Jake Neighbors
Jake Neighbors' Blog
"The History Of The Democratic Republicans"
http://jakeneighbors.blogspot.com/
Published: 10/2/08
Date Accessed: 10/2/08
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