History of a Political Party- Democratic Party

By Damien Moreno

  • Democratic-Republican Party created

    Founded by Thomas Jefferson, this evolved political factions that opposed Alexander Hamilton's fiscal policies in the early 1790's which made a huge impact on the U.S today.

  • Party wins control of Presidency and Congress

    The party was the strongest in both the south and the west, yet the weakest in New England. It then won control of Presidency and Congress in 1800.

  • Party opposes Federalists policies

    Up until 1816, this party opposed Federalist policies such as high tariffs, military spending, a navy, a natinal bank and a national dept. Party leaders like Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and John C. Calhoun wanted to then build a strong national defense after the war that took place in 1812.

  • President James Monroe pursues a policy of harmony

    A New England Federalist coined the term era of Good Feelings to describe the new era. The phrase was coined by Benjamin Russell.

  • Banking and tariffs as central domestic policy issue

    From the year 1828 to 1848, banking and tariffs were the center of domestic policy issues. Democrats strongly liked expansion to new farm lands.

  • Martin Van Buren wins presidency

    Jackson's vice-pres, Martin Van Buren, won the presidency in 1836. However, "The Panic" of 1837 caused his defeat in the 1840 presidental election to General William Henry Harrison and John Tyler.

  • Democratic National Committee is created

    Created in 1848, this took place at the same convention that nominated General Lewis Cass.

  • Gains permanent advantages over Whig Party

    Democrats in Congress passed the hugely controversial Compromise of 1850.

  • Douglas pushes through Kansas-Nebraska act

    The main Democratic leader in the Senate, Stephen A. Douglas, from Illinois, pushed through the pro-slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.

  • Democratic party is unable to compete with GOP

    The Democratic Party was unable to compete with the Republican Party, which controlled nearly all northern states by 1860, bringing a solid majority in the electoral college.

  • Democrats fail to stop election of Lincoln

    To vote for Douglas in Virginia, a man had to deposit the ticket in the official ballot box. In 1860, the Democrats were unable to stop the election of the famous Republican Abraham Lincoln.

  • Northern Democrats divide into two factions

    During the Civil War, Northern Democrats divided into two factions: The War Democrats who supported the military policies of President Lincoln, and the Copperheads who strongly opposed them.

  • 'Solid South' for Democratic Party

    Solid South refers to the electoral support of the Southern United States for the Democratic Party candidates for nearly a century from 1877.

  • The 1896 Democratic National Convention is held

    Grover Cleveland led the party faction of conservative, pro-business Bourbon Democrats, but as the depression of 1893 deepened, his own enemies multiplied on him.

  • Democrats take control of the House

    Taking advantage of a deep split in the Republican Party, the Democrats took control of the House in 1910, then elected the intellectual reformer Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and 1916.

  • John F. Kennedys election energized the party

    The election of John F. Kennedy in 1960 over then Vice President Richard Nixon re-energized the party. His youth, vigor and intelligence caught the popular imagination.

  • Jimmy Carters presidental era

    As president, Carter created two new cabinet-level departments: the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a national energy policy that included conversation, price decontrol, and new technology.

  • Bill Clinton's presidency term

    In the 1990s, the Democratic Party revived itself, in part by moving to the right on economic and social policy.In 1992, for the first time in 12 years the United States had a Democrat in the White House.

  • The party's miseries mount

    The party's miseries mounted in 2003, when a voter recall unseated their unpopular governor of California, Grey Davis, and replaced him with a charismatic Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. By the end of 2003 California, Texas, New York and Florida all consisted of Republican Governors.

  • President Obama is elected as United States first African-American President

    Throughout most of the 2008 general election, polls showed a close race between Barack Obama and John McCain. However, Obama maintained a small, yet widening lead over McCain in the wake of the Liquidity crisis of September 2008.