Progressivism/Liberalism

1. Want positive change

2. Supports government intervention

Conservatism

1. Maintain traditional values

2. Support limited government intervention

Pre-Constitution

• Federalists and Anti-Federalists

  • Federalists supported the Constitution - Liberal

  • Anti-Federalists supported the Bill of Rights - Conservative

First Political Parties

• Democratic-Republican (Republican) - Jefferson:

  • More South-dominated, cared about farmers

  • Isolationism

  • States rights supporter

  • Strict interpretation

  • No National Bank

  • France supporters

• Federalists - Hamilton:

  • Not the same Federalists listed above

  • Not isolationist

  • Loose interpretation —> Necessary and Proper Clause

  • Want a National Bank

  • Britain supporters

Death of the Federalists

1. The War of 1812 - American “victory”

2. Hartford Convention

   1. The Federalist meeting, coming up with potential new amendments to the Consitution because they’re whiny, threatened to have a Northern Secession

      1. They seem unpatriotic

“Era of Good Feelings” - “Everyone is a Republican”

1. Election of 1824

   1. John Quincy Adams

      1. National Republican and Liberal (new Federalist essentially, National because Federalists wanted a strong central government)

   2. Andrew Jackson

      1. Democrat (sided with the common man), Conservative

   3. Corrupt Bargain prevents Jackson from winning

      1. Backdoor deal between Henry Calhoun and John Quincy Adams

2. Election of 1828

   1. Jackson wins

   2. The Whig Party is created

      1. Anti-Jackson Party

   3. Both parties fight over the Second National Bank

      1. Second National Bank dies because of Jackson

Pre-Civil War

1. Issue-Oriented Parties

   1. Know-Nothing/American Party -

      1. Anti-Immigration

   2. Free-Soil Party

      1. Wanted to stop the spread of slavery, however, they were not abolitionists

2. Main Political Parties

   1. Democrats (South)

      1. Cotton Whigs get absorbed into the Republican Party

   2. Republicans (North) - Abraham Lincoln, won the 1860 election

      1. Free-Soil Party gets absorbed into the Republican Party

      2. Conscious Whigs get absorbed into the Republican Party

   3. Whigs split because of disagreements with slavery

      1. Conscious Whigs

      2. Cotton Whigs

Reconstruction

1. Democrats are still conservative

2. Republicans are still progressive

   1. Radical Republicans are extra progressive

The Gilded Age

1. Period of political and economic conservatism- Laissez-Faire

   1. Democrats and Republicans = conservative

2. Populist Party forms because the main political parties are relatively similar

   1. Mostly to voice the opinions of the working class and farmers

   2. Didn’t win any elections

The Progressive Era

1. Period of political and economic progressivism

   1. Teddy Roosevelt (R)

   2. William Howard Taft (R)

   3. Woodrow Wilson (D)

Roaring Twenties

1. Harding (1920)- “Return to Normalcy”

   1. Return to conservatism

   2. Republican party dominates

2. 1929 - Kicks of Depressions

   1. Boo Republicans

New Deal leads to Liberal Era (1932-1965)

1. Presidents of the Liberal Era - Franklin Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson

   1. Dwight Eisenhower was the lone Republican, however, he was quite moderate

2. 1968 election - Nixon (R) wins

   1. Nixon campaigns for the (silent majority)

Rise of Conservation (1980-2008)

2. Presidents in the Rise of Conservatism - Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, William Clinton, and George W. Bush

   1. Clinton is the lone Republican

2008 - Obama - Tried to be a Real Progressive