Choosing your party
History of political parties in the USA
Read the documents then answer the questions
The Republicans
When the Republican Party was created, the two major parties in the United States were the Democratic Party and the Whig
Party. The Republican Party was created in 1854 in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska
Act that would have allowed the expansion of slavery into Kansas. The
Republican activists denounced the act as proof of the power of the Slave
Power—the powerful class of southern slaveholders who were conspiring to
control the federal government and to spread slavery nationwide. The name
"Republican" gained such favor in 1854 because "republicanism" was the
paramount political value the new party meant to uphold. The party founders
adopted the name "Republican" to indicate it was the carrier of "republican"
beliefs about civic virtue, and opposition to aristocracy and corruption.[1] The name had been in
previous use by Jeffersonians, Jacksonians, and nationalists.
Besides opposition to slavery, the new party put forward a progressive vision
of modernizing the United States—emphasizing higher education, banking,
railroads, industry and cities, while promising free homesteads (land for agriculture) to farmers. They
vigorously argued that free-market labor was superior to slavery and the very
foundation of civic virtue and true American values—this is the "Free Soil, Free
Labor, Free Men" ideology explored by historian Eric Foner
Questions
1. Why was the Republican party created?
2. What were its beliefs and values?
3. Who were the Republicans against?
Go to wiki
4. Who was the first Republican president?
The Democrats
Who did this man kill?
The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party,
founded by Thomas
Jefferson, James
Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792. However,
the modern Democratic party truly arose in the 1830s, with the election of Andrew Jackson. Since the
division of the Republican Party in the election of 1912, it
has gradually positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic and
social issues. Until the period following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, the Democratic Party was primarily a coalition of two parties divided by
region. Southern Democrats were typically given high conservative ratings by the
American Conservative Union while
northern Democrats were typically given very low ratings. Southern Democrats
were a core bloc of the bi-partisan conservative coalition that lasted
through the Reagan-era. The economically activist philosophy of Franklin D.
Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, has shaped
much of the party's economic agenda since 1932, and served to tie the two
regional factions of the party together until the late 1960s. In fact,
Roosevelt's New
Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until the
1970s.
source: wiki
5. Which president inaurgurated the beginning of the Democrat party?
6. Which branch of the party is liberal (progressist and socially liberal) and which one is conservative?
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7. Which is the biggest party in terms of members?
8. Which animals symbolize each party?
Score ( /8)
Now do the quiz to find if you are a democrat or a republican
Note your score out of ten for each poll.
Score ( /10)
Decide which party you will join.
Assignment
Explain why you chose your party
Comment on the cartoons below
Find out which party is called the Grand Old Party (GOP)
Listen to a song about an all American disaster
Which political party would support the views expressed in the video?
