The Two Party System vs. The First Party System

American politics was significantly controlled by a two party system, and between 1792 to 1836 it was dominated by four crucial parties, the Federalists, the Whigs, the Republicans and the Democrats. During this period of time there were two vital party systems, one was the First Party System which lasted from 1792 to the 1820s, and the other was the Second Party System which was in effect from 1832 to 1856.

The First Party system consisted of the Federalists and the Republicans. The Federalists were mainly people living in urban areas whose main objective was to increase the potency of the national government. The Federalists dominated the federal government until the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800. As the War of 1812 hit the Americans, the Federalists fervently fought for the idea of not fighting with Britain. When the War of 1812 had ended and after the Federalists threatened to secede parts of New England from the Union, and declared the Americans would disgracefully lose the war, the Federalists were significantly weakened. Then the First Party System came to an end during a period of the Presidency of James Monroe known as “The Era of Good Feelings”. “The Era of Good Feelings” was named so by a man named Benjamin Russell of the Columbian Centinel and was the end of the Federalist Party, and it seemed as though George Washington’s warning in his “Farewell Address”, about the destructivity a rivalry between parties, was no longer necessary.

However, a Second Party System developed and this was between the Whigs, who were anti-Jacksonians, and the Jacksonian Democrats. The Whig Party was generally wealthy elites who believed Congress should have more power then the Executive Branch. The Democrats were against the National Bank of America and attempted to represent the lower class Americans. One of the most crucial accomplishments of the Jacksonian Democrats would be the destruction of the National Bank of America. Jackson felt the bank was giving unfair economic advantages, thus he was able to transfer money away from the bank and eventually destroy the bank itself. The Whigs were able to grab hold of the Executive Branch with the election of President William Harrison who died recently after obtaining office and had to be replaced by another Whig whose name was Vice President John Tyler. John Tyler was able to secure relations with China in the Treaty of Wang Hya, but eventually the Whig Party lost the White House in the election of 1844 and with Tyler refusing to accept any of the Whigs proposals Tyler was forced out of the Whig Party and it crumbled. This was the end of the two party system from 1790 to 1836 but it was not the end of the two party system in Americas future.