1 US FOUNDERS DID NOT WANT POLITICAL PARTIES Political parties in the United States date back to the founding of the country in 1776 The people who led the American Revolution 1775 1783 were against the idea of political parties A political party is an organized group It tries to affect how a government is run A party uses its political power to influence government policies Soon after the American colonists won the American Revolution people began to form parties For the first time anyone had the power to influence politics People organized into parties They were able to express their political beliefs with more influence Early leaders feared political parties would harm the country George Washington and James Madison were against parties They were afraid one party would gather too much power These men believed that one party 4 President Geor ton President George Washington President George Washington gives his inaugural address gives his inaugural address Washi
It is difficult for one party to control all three branches of the federal government with all the power was no different from a monarchy The nation had just defeated the rule of the British monarchy People did not want to return to a similar government The US Constitution tried to limit the power of political parties Power in the new government was divided among three branches These were the legislative judicial and executive branches One party could control one branch of the government But it would be difficult for one party to control all the branches Early leaders hoped these political parties would be temporary But today those political groups still exist 1 Number of presidents who were not members of a political party George Washington was the only president who was not a member of a political party The US founders viewed political parties as dangerous The US Constitution tried to limit political parties Political parties formed as groups fought for power 5
2 THE ENGLISH CREATE POLITICAL RTIES PARTIES The United States has had political parties since 1787 But political parties did not begin in the United States They can be traced to England English political parties started in the late 1600s At the time the English people disagreed about how much power the king should have In order to gather power people formed opposing groups King Charles II who ended the English Parliament during his rule The English people took one of two sides Some people believed the king was right Others believed the Parliament was The group that opposed the king was called the Some in England wanted to kill King Charles II This led Parliament to ban these people from serving in the government But the king believed Parliament challenged his authority in taking this action He ended the Parliament and ruled on his own until he died in 1685 6
Whigs The king’s supporters were called Tories The English people had two sides to choose from On one side were supporters of the king’s power On the other side were supporters of more power for ordinary people In the late 1790s Americans also had two choices They could vote for those who wanted a strong federal government Or they could vote for those who supported stronger state and local government Though less influential parties have come and gone these choices remain today THINK ABOUT IT Should one part of the American government have greater power A strong federal government provides a single direction for national policy Strong state governments offer greater control to the people of each state What do you believe Write a paragraph explaining your opinion 109 Number of years between the founding of the first British political parties and the first American ones The first political parties were formed in England not the United States The Whigs and the Tories were the first political parties in England Political parties often represent differing sides of the same issue An early English political cartoon showing the battle between the Tories left and the Whigs 7
