History - Scholarship Essay Example

The Evolution of Political Parties in the United s The Evolution of Political Parties in the United sAmerican society is characterized by divisions on crucial issues affecting the welfare of the nation since pre-independence era. The constitution of the United States does not mention political parties. However, the parties remain crucial element of governance system of the country. Contrary to other democratic countries with multi-party systems, only two major political parties exists in the United States, except for brief moments of transition, which makes American history.

During colonial period, there were colonialists who supported independence while other, the Loyalists, opposed it. The debate on constitution mirrors divisions, which marred the American society during early periods. While the Federalist supported constitution ratification and a powerful national government, the Anti-Federalists advocated for a national government, which is weaker and also opposed the approval of the constitution. The division between Federalists and Anti-Federalist would give birth to political parties trying to woo people to buy their ideologies.

The united state’s first party system was comprised of the Federalist Party formed by Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party also known as Anti-Federalist (Pickard, 2010). The Federal Party started experiencing opposition in 1790 following Hamilton’s mentioned the possibility of the central government assuming state debts. Republicans, under the leadership of Jefferson, supported the views of older Anti-Federalists accusing Hamilton’s administration for monarchism.

A few years later, the Democrats merged with the Republicans to form one national party. During 1800s, the Republican Party gained more popularity as the Federal Party was implementing laws that appeared to favor a powerful national government, which never resonated well with people. Consequently, Democratic-Republicans emerged victorious in 1800 elections with Jefferson becoming the new President (Pickard, 2010). This marked the demise of Federal Party power with Democratic-Republican Party seizing supremacy.

ReferencePickard, J.L. (2010). Brief history of political parties in the United States. Memphis, Tennessee: General Books LLC.