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“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the great difficultness lies in this: You must firstborn enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.” - Alexander Hamilton This piece, percentage two of a two-part series, will pick up where percentage one left off, at the demise of the Federalist Party and the emergence of the Democratic-Republican Party. It will then explore the remaining history of American political parties up to this day. The party scheme in the United States was born as the Federalists, in favor of central government and industry, and the Anti-Federalists, in favor of states rights and farming, was struggling for power. As percentage of the deal that ended with the ratification of the Constitution, the two parties accorded that a body elect would choose the President and the Vice President, not the people themselves. This was the method of choosing the President until 1824, when the scheme we have now was put into place. George Washington was unanimously elected by electoral vote as the primary President and John Adams was his Vice-President. The Federalists’ demise begun in 1790. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson took opposing sides on the formation of a central bank and the beginning of a national debt. Jefferson became head of what would become the Democratic-Republican Party, denouncing the Federalists as no better than the king himself. Washington and Adams were voted in again, and The Federalists hung onto power. Nonetheless, the makings of the original real American Heavyweight bout were underway. In the champion’s corner, was John Adams for President representing the Federalists. In the challenger’s corner, were Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party. Washington decisive to retire as his Administration was harshly criticized over policy. In the ensuing election, Adams received 71 electoral votes to Jefferson’s 68. So much for unanimous elections and harmonious political existence! The result was that Adams became President and Jefferson became Vice-President. Into the 1800′s, the Republican and Democratic parties remained aligned with the Republican party growing in strength. As a result, the federal government grew and strengthened, as well. The government was growing in scope of power too. The “Sedition Law,” which punished “any false, scandalous, or malicious writing versus the government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President,” was considered a despotic act. Jefferson and the Republicans won in 1800 and Aaron Burr, the Democratic Party leader, became Vice-President. The Federalist Party was no more. The Democratic – Republican Party for the time being would sovereignty supremely. The effort to beef up the central government excessively at the expense of the power of the states had come to naught, and the Federalists, as a well-defined party, gradually vanished from existence. With the Democratic-Republican Party with resolute determination in power, numerous nonpopular laws were repealed, and the federal government went back regarding it is business. Over the next 30 years, the Democratic-Republican Party tardily became two more distinct parties. In 1834, as the National Republican Party faded into the background, the Whig Party was born with leaders like Daniel Webster, who bestloved Congressional power over Presidential power. The Whigs wanted to exaggerate the national government (and the country itself) westward. In 1840, the initial Whig president, William Henry Harrison, was elected. The last Whig president, Zachary Taylor, was elected in 1848. The Whigs were not around for very long. Mediocre sitcoms on television have lasted longer than the Whigs. In 1854, the Republican Party reformed, bolstered by support from the tattered Whigs and the independent Free Soldiers. By 1860, the issue of slavery and state rights eclipsed the political landscape. The country was divided North and South. The Democratic Party in a literal sense split in two, just like the nation would a year later. The Southern Democrats were in favor of the federal shelter of slavery in the western territories, the Northern Democrats were not. They wanted the Supreme Court to handle the issue. This led to the election of a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, who with resolute determination believed that the Union would be kept together by the federal government at all costs. His policies and the divided nation’s conflicting views led to the bloody, divisive, four-year long Civil War that lasted from 1861 until 1865. The Reconstruction Years that followed saw the South lose most of it is political sway for the next few decades. By the 1890′s, the Democratic and Republican parties, largely as we know them today, were with resolute determination entrenched as the two major political parties that controlled United States Politics. Republicans became known as the conservative or right-wing party, and Democrats became known as the liberal or left-wing party. The parties themselves became entrenched in their positions, growing further and further apart in their philosophies, getting more and more concerned with Republican or Democratic values and less concerned with the values of the American citizens they governed. The divide amidst party values and American values varied so widely that Teddy Roosevelt broke his own party apart for the duration of the election of 1912. Teddy Roosevelt was a very American major disruptive element in the 1912 presidential election, 4 years after he declined to run for President for a 3rd term. He found the policies of his own party’s President, William Howard Taft, to be far too conservative for his liking. After a rift at the Republican Convention, Teddy formed the Bull Moose Party and took sufficient Republican votes from Taft to grant Democratic campaigner Woodrow Wilson to win the Presidency. Little in the two political party scheme has changed in the past 100 years since the election of 1912, with the exception of an occasional Independent like Ross Perot who popped up in the 1980′s, and 1990′s to make a great deal of noise, until very recently. CNBC financial analyst Rick Santelli hit on a nerve on a broadcast after the financial crisis of 2008 erupted. Upset with more bailouts of persons who purchased houses they could not afford and persons who furnished those houses, Santelli said: “We’re thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July! All you capitalists that want to show up at Lake Michigan I’m organizing a party!” The Tea Party motion was born. Though Santelli is not related with the Tea Party directly, he said some things that numerous Americans felt at the time. Many like Santelli were vocally tired of big government and particular interest politicians taking tax cash and throwing it at each problem in the hopes of fixing it. Santelli and the traders on the floor on that show expressed; that they were tired of a government that is self-perpetuating for government’s sake rather of for it is people’s sake. The Founding Fathers were right, the risk of any political system, even a well-intentioned one, is that it will grow to a point where it is only concern is preserving political power at any cost. The Obama Administration came in preaching change, and they are not the problem. Even if, they genuinely believed they could enforce modify when they took office, the two-party systems don’t grant it. Policy modify would concede a shift in the remainder of power. That hasn’t occurred in this country since the Whigs threw a curve ball to the power grid of this country’s political framework back in the 1840′s. However, the fact is, alter may be a good thing. The Founding Fathers demanded change. A new voice or view-point could aid the country get a new perspective. It is evident the Tea Party has managed to get a lot of persons involved in politics who were never involved before. Besides even more persons getting involved with dissimilar views and dissimilar voices would be better. That is what a democracy is about. Self governance that is evenly participated in and therefore, evenly represented. The Tea Party has swelled in it is ranks since members started forming protests a few weeks after the Santelli rant. Since then, the fledgling motion has grown speedily in America, sponsoring hundreds of protests, boasting millions of members, and affecting the 2010 elections that swayed the remainder of power once again from one party, the Democratic Party, to two parties. The Tea Party, however, is not yet an official, political party in America. The line amidst self governance and being ruled over is a fine line, that’s what makes the project the Founding Fathers did with the Constitution so miraculous. However even they knew that it would require effort, perseverance, vigilance and participation to make a unfeigned Democratic Republic work. As Benjamin Franklin famously said just after the Constitution was ratified, “Well, Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy? A republic, if you may keep it.” With more participation from the American persons and more effort from those being governed, America will stand as a republic for a lot of years to come, but it’s not politics or political parties that make America strong, it’s the people who make up the nation, who believe in freedom and who fight for what is just. Sometimes it just takes a new voice to remind each one of that fact. As for what Ben Franklin might think of the Republic today and whether or not all Americans ought to be conscious and involved in the politics of the nation to maintain it, I think Ben might have said: “Let’s have a cup of tea and talk in regards to it. With a lot of good open honorable discussion, always there’s a consensus to be found that may satisfy us all!” On the other hand, then, he always was penny wise and pound smartly! I hope you will please consider all this and think on it. Most helpful customer reviews 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. I’ll be honest & say that while this tea has a lot of great things in it, I wouldn’t recommend that you expect miracles. The antioxidants will help but what really made a difference with me was that I’d replaced a few of my other drinks with this tea. (Sodas & other caffeinated beverages do not do good things for your skin.) Plus the drink has plenty of soothing herbs in it (chamomile, my favorite!), which helps lessen stress- something else that will probably help you see improvements. I recommend it just for the stress benefits alone. Taste-wise, this is a strange concoction. Not bad, just different. There’s a lot of flavors here to taste but somehow it works out well. What I loved most about this was that you really didn’t need sugar in this drink- it tastes just as good without it than it would with it. I also loved that it was good cold, which will come in handy when it gets really warm. So the bottom line? This will absolutely help you out health-wise but don’t expect dramatic improvements. 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. 2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. |
Very soothing!
Fantastic!
