One of the two main parties of the United States, the Democratic Party is
the oldest ongoing party in the nation.
In 1792, Thomas Jefferson and his political followers, who believed in state powers over federal ones, adopted the name of "Republicans." Their opposing party, the Federalists, named Jefferson's Republicans as the Democratic-Republican Party in hopes to associate the party with the crazy events with the French "democrats" in the French Revolution. In 1798, the party officially took up the name of Democratic-Republic Party.
In 1800, Jefferson won the presidential seat and brought with him his political views. For the next couple of years, the U.S. became dominated by the Democratic-Republic Party. Until around the 1820s, the States largely became a one-party nation. In the election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, the nation split into two major parties. Adam and his supporters became the National Republicans, and Andrew Jackson called his supporters the Democrats. In 1844, the Democrats officially named themselves as the Democratic Party, beginning the modern party we have today.
Throughout American history, the Democratic Party had a major internal split twice. Once was in the mid 1800's over the topic of slavery. Northern Democrats argued with southern Democrats which split the Democratic vote and allowed Republican Abraham Lincoln to win the presidency. The other time that the party was split was over its candidate William Jennings Bryan, and his views on bimetallism in 1896. Despite this, the party has remained intact ever since and is one of the two major parties in the nation today, with Democratic-President Barack Obama currently sitting in the office.Some major Democratic Presidents include Andrew Jackson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama
Philosophy
The Democratic Party today is the more liberal of the two major American parties. The party's major beliefs are based off off community and societal progress. Things like welfare, health care, labor unions, marriage laws, and drug legalization are all things that the party is supportive of.
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