How Did The Democratic Party Dominate American Political Life

829 Words2 Pages

The Democratic Party had dominated American political life in the first part of the 19th century since defeating the Federalists. The Democratic Party was one of the few remaining organizations holding north and south together by the 1850s. During the 19th century, the party tolerated slavery, and it opposed civil rights changes after the American Civil War. They felt they had to do this to keep the support from Southern voters. While the South supported Senator Stephen Douglas’ Kansas Nebraska Act, the Senator later put off the Freeport Doctrine and the South turned against him. There were also conflicts between President James Buchanan and Senator Douglas which also interfered with the Democratic Party. Through control of patronage, the President helped fuel anti-Douglas sentiment in the South. The Republican Party contested elections with the Democrats for a long period of time because of the bitter slavery dispute. The Democratic parties were able to remain unbroken throughout the 1850s despite the …show more content…

These changes split the Democratic-Republicans into factions, each of which nominated its own candidate in the presidential election of 1824. The party’s congressional caucus nominated William H. Crawford of Georgia, but Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, the leaders of the party’s two largest factions, also sought the presidency; Henry Clay, the speaker of the House of Representatives, was nominated by the Kentucky and Tennessee legislatures. Jackson won the most popular and electoral votes, but no candidate received the necessary majority in the electoral college. When the election went to the House of Representatives, Henry Clay was eliminated from the polls. With this loss Henry Clay offered his support to Adams, who won the House vote and appointed Clay secretary of

Open Document