Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Shame On Us

Many of America's Founding Fathers hated the thought of political parties, quarreling "factions" they were sure would be more interested in contending with each other than in working for the common good. They wanted individual citizens to vote for individual candidates, without the interference of organized groups — but this was not to be.

By the 1790s, different views of the new country's proper course had already developed, and those who held these opposing views tried to win support for their cause by banding together. The followers of Alexander Hamilton called themselves Federalists; they favored a strong central government that would support the interests of commerce and industry. The followers of Thomas Jefferson called themselves Democratic-Republicans; they preferred a decentralized agrarian republic in which the federal government had limited power. By 1828, the Federalists had disappeared as an organization, replaced by the Whigs, brought to life in opposition to the election that year of President Andrew Jackson. The Democratic-Republicans became Democrats, and the two-party system, still in existence today, was born... - Department of the State

Chris and the Founding Fathers would get along well.

5 comments:

  1. Well, yes I do agree with them that political parties hinder us, but I also see the Founding Fathers as a bunch of slave owning, aristocratic, wealthy white guys who did not intend for this country to be a democracy. So there's always that. But, I do agree with many of Jefferson's views.

    ReplyDelete
  2. can't we just elect Adrian Aiello president and get politics season overwith?

    ReplyDelete
  3. ^ By the way, that's not Adrian, I just think he would be an awesome president.

    ReplyDelete
  4. wait, we can use a name without signing in? cool!

    yeah anonymous=me

    I'd want to send Adrian and Adam to Washington

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are valued greatly. Please adhere to the decorum on the "First time here?" page. Comments that are in violation of any of the rules will be deleted without notice.

3/11 Update - No Moderation

*Non-anonymous commenting is preferred to avoid mix-ups. Anonymous comments are, at the behest of management, more likely to be deleted than non-anonymous comments.