Political Parties

Federalists (1790s–1816)

  • Leaders: Hamilton, Adams
  • Beliefs: Strong central government, pro-British, support for banks and tariffs
  • Key Events: Supported Jay’s Treaty, Alien & Sedition Acts

Democratic-Republicans (1790s–1820s)

  • Leaders: Jefferson, Madison
  • Beliefs: States’ rights, agrarianism, pro-French, anti-Bank
  • Key Events: Opposed Alien & Sedition Acts, led Louisiana Purchase

National Republicans (1820s–1830s)

  • Leader: Henry Clay
  • Beliefs: American System, strong federal government, internal improvements
  • Split From: Democratic-Republicans

Jacksonian Democrats (1828–present as Democrats)

  • Leader: Andrew Jackson
  • Beliefs: Common man, anti-bank, pro-expansion, pro-slavery
  • Key Events: Indian Removal Act, Nullification Crisis

Whigs (1830s–1850s)

  • Leaders: Henry Clay, William Henry Harrison
  • Beliefs: Anti-Jackson, pro-American System, divided on slavery
  • Key Events: Supported Compromise of 1850, Second Bank of the U.S.

Liberty Party (1840s)

  • Beliefs: Abolitionist, wanted to end slavery legally
  • Key Role: Third party that helped shape later Free Soil/Republican platforms

Free Soil Party (1848–1854)

  • Slogan: “Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men”
  • Beliefs: Stop the expansion of slavery into new territories
  • Merged Into: Republican Party

Know-Nothing / American Party (1850s)

  • Beliefs: Nativist, anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic
  • Decline: Couldn’t unify over slavery

Republican Party (1854–present)

  • Leaders: Abraham Lincoln
  • Beliefs (19th century): Anti-slavery expansion, pro-tariff, internal improvements
  • Key Events: Civil War, Emancipation Proclamation, Reconstruction

Constitutional Union Party (1860)

  • Beliefs: Avoided slavery issue, focused on preserving the Union
  • Candidate: John Bell
  • Formed From: Former Whigs and moderate Southerners

Radical Republicans (1860s–1870s)

  • Beliefs: Harsh Reconstruction, full rights for freedmen, punish South
  • Key Events: 14th & 15th Amendments, Military Reconstruction Acts

Populist Party (1890s)

  • Beliefs: Free silver, anti-elite, pro-farmer, government regulation of railroads
  • Key Events: Election of 1896, Omaha Platform

Progressive Party (1912, 1924)

  • Leaders: Theodore Roosevelt (1912), La Follette (1924)
  • Beliefs: Anti-trust, pro-democracy reforms, social justice
  • Split From: Republicans

Socialist Party (early 1900s)

  • Leader: Eugene V. Debs
  • Beliefs: Workers’ rights, public ownership, anti-capitalism
  • Key Events: Opposed WWI, ran multiple presidential campaigns

Dixiecrats (1948)

  • Leader: Strom Thurmond
  • Beliefs: Segregationist, anti–civil rights
  • Split From: Democratic Party

States’ Rights Party (1950s)

  • Beliefs: Opposed federal civil rights enforcement, supported segregation
  • Related To: Dixiecrats

Modern Democratic Party

  • Shifted (1930s–present): Became pro–New Deal, pro–civil rights
  • Leaders: FDR, LBJ, Biden
  • Beliefs: Big government, social welfare, civil rights, labor protections

Modern Republican Party

  • Shifted (1960s–present): Became more conservative, small government
  • Leaders: Reagan, Trump
  • Beliefs: Deregulation, tax cuts, strong military, socially conservative