The change in the Democratic coalition from Pre-Reconstruction to the New Deal coalition - Research Paper Example

?Introduction In the recent history of the United s Democratic Party has been the most liberal party in the country, as evidenced by its recent political, social and economic policies and alignments. Election of the current president, Barack Obama, an African American and the first US leader from a minority group is perhaps one of the most conspicuous indicators that the party transcends across racial and religious boundaries, pertinent issues that have historically defined the political landscape in the country. This contrasts sharply to the early times when the party commanded a completely different following as is today. This paper examines the historical development of the Democratic Party in the United States. In particular, I examine how it changed from a party initially supported by white racist southerners to the current cosmopolitan and multiethnic following. History of the Democratic Party The formation of Democratic Party, as an independent entity in the United States dates back to 1828. Before its formation, two parties, namely the Federalist and Democratic - Republican parties, dominated the United States politics after implementation of the country’s constitution (William, 51) According to Schlesinger et al (63), the Federalist Party was elitist, supporting a national government controlled by the wealthy individuals in the society. On the other hand, the democratic-republic party supported more decentralized power system among all the white property owners in the country. By 1820s, the Democratic -Republic Party had become the most dominant in the United States political structure after the Federalist Party faded into oblivion. Hence, the country was a single party state during the period. This is demonstrated during 1824 presidential elections where all four aspirants for the president seat were from Democratic - Republican Party (Schlesinger, et al, 26) The formation of Democratic Party, as a distinct entity is credited to Andrew Jackson, who later became the first president of United States to be elected on the Democratic Party ticket from 1829-1837 (Spencer, 308). The current United States president is the 15th to be elected on Democratic Party. The ideals of Democratic Party, some of which are apparent currently developed under the leadership of Andrew Jackson. The liberal and populist ideologies that characterize the current Democratic Party policies began under Andrew Jackson. In order to win the support of the white property owners, Spencer (311), notes that Jackson stood on the policy of taking over the ownership of the lands under ownership of the native Indians, using any means necessary, including extermination and forced displacement. This manifesto earned unprecedented support from the less wealthy white settlers and land speculators, because it reduced the cost of buying land (Spencer, 312) Other policies that Jackson advocated in his quest for presidency included the extension of slave trade and servitude, which ensured that property and landowners continued reaping profits from their investments by using free labor offered mainly by black slaves (Spencer, 301). In addition, Jackson promised the voters an expanded monetary policy that would enable white settlers access credit facilities to buy land obtained from displaced native Indians. Access to credit facilities enabled white owners to embark on commercial plantations, where slaves provided cheap labor. These policies raised the popularity of the pioneer democrat especially among the white farmers who ventured in profitable farming of tobacco, sugarcane, cotton and other lucrative crops for sale. These policies propelled him to an easy presidential victory in 1828(Spencer, 318). In this respect, the foundation of Democratic Party and its subsequent win in 1828 election was a triumph of democracy over elitism if the issues of slavery, massacre and mass displacement of native communities are not considered. According to Aldrich (37), Jackson presidency successfully ended a long reign of presidents from exclusively wealthy regions in Virginia and Massachusetts. It is worth noting that Jackson was popular to majority but less wealthy white Americans, including those who did not own slaves. At the time of Jackson’s election, only a few states in United States had enforced the policy of universal manhood suffrage that allowed all adult European men to vote irrespective of their income, religion and ethnic background (Jeffrey, et al, 75). Andrew Jackson received majority of his support from such states. Upon ascending to power, democrats extended universal manhood suffrage of all white males in all states, leading to creation of more expansive democratic space in the United States. However, President Jackson Andrews continued large-scale displacement of native Indians from their ancestral lands and this remains his most prominent legacy in the history of United States. After serving the maximum two terms in office, Jackson retired fro presidency and was succeed by a fellow democrat in 1837. The first presidential candidate of the opposition Whig party was elected to head the country in 1840, after disastrous economic crisis that undermined chances of the incumbent democratic president Martin Van Buren from retaining the presidency for the second term (Schlesinger, et al, 142). Since its establishment, the Democratic Party commanded support from both elites and non-elites across the United States. This enhanced its position in maintaining the dominance of the party in the early preconstruction period. Elites from Democratic Party included rich plantation landowners from the south and the majority non-elite small-scale farmers and slave owners provided them with votes. The combination of the elites and non-elites among the democratic electorate provided the party with commanding political strength. Unlike democrats, the Whigs sourced their support from elitist urban people, in both slave and Free states (Aldrich, 169). Therefore, it is not surprising that the party always came second to the democrats, in an era where the majority European settlers in the country demanded unflinching support for slavery and large-scale land acquisition for farming. This explains why before the outbreak of the Civil War, the Democratic Party dominated the presidency with only two Whig presidents, Zachary Taylor and William Harrison, both of whom failed to complete a single term in office. Democratic Party and the American Civil War The issue of abolitionist movement and subsequent civil war are some one of the most defining moments of the then newly formed Republican Party and the already established democrats. The large acquisition of land from native people under democratic leadership resulted to creation of more territories for the United States especially on the western frontier. This created a dilemma on whether the newly created states would adopt slavery or remain free from servitude. Prior to the civil war, northern states had abolished slavery in the early 19th century. This was due to rapid growth of industries and mercantile enterprises in the north that were less labor intensive (William, 183). However most southern states were mainly agricultural oriented and this created a huge demand for slaves to work in the plantations. Therefore, the abolitionist movement started in the northern states but the southern states, the foundation of Democratic Party support were determined to retain slavery to support their main economic activity of farming. The Republican Party was dominant in the northern states and it managed to convince most of the voters the evils of slavery and the need to abolish it, in favor of humane economic activities, such as trade. This antagonism between the northern and southern states created conflict and the latter threatened to secede from the United States. Kansas, a newly created state from displaced Indian tribes provided an opportunity for determining whether the newly acquired territories would be free or in support of slavery. In the ensuing struggle between the republican and democrats, the American civil war was imminent. In 1860 a year before eruption of the war, American politics were polarized on the slavery issue and the Democratic Party split after differences emerged on choosing the strongest pro slavery presidential candidate to face the abolitionist republican party (William, 66). This split handed Abraham Lincoln, a republican and an abolitionist the victory and he became the first republican president in the history of United States. The civil war broke out in 1861 until 1865 and the union soldiers backed by the northern republican states defeated the confederate southern states that supported slavery. After the four years of war and the triumph of abolitionists, slavery was outlawed in the entire United States. Although the southern states were mainly supporters of Democratic Party, the party had substantial supporters from the north (Aldrich, 73). The triumph of the Union army created a new voting pattern in the United States but the Democratic Party remained largely intact. According to Schlesinger, et al(205), the Fourth Amendment of the United States constitution banned former confederate soldiers from holding office and voting. The Republican government ordered the freedom of all slaves and they were allowed to vote as provided for in the 15 Amendment as the reconstruction laws began According to Schlesinger et al (107), the south became under republican occupation, but still the proslavery. The freed slaves in the south exercised their freedom and voting rights only under the protection of the federal soldiers (Jeffrey, et al, 96) Following these changes, the over 3.5 million black slaves in the southern states became Republican Party supporters. In the northern states, the few democratic followers decamped to the victorious Republican Party. The reconstruction started during the war and continued until 1877. According to Jeffrey et al (58), the reconstruction intended to address the issue of slavery and administration of the reunified United States, comprising the former eleven southern states that had separated from the country prior to the war. In addition, the reconstruction addressed the issue of the freed slaves (Jeffrey, et al 60) The restoration of voting rights for former confederates in the south and the emergence of the racist Ku Klux Klan reenergized the Democratic Party in the south. The Ku Klux Klan threatened and killed the republican supporters, mainly the freed slaves and few whites to prevent them from voting (Schlesinger, et al 55). Following these changes, the Democratic Party regained power in the southern states and in the northern areas, its influence increased. The 1876 presidential elections were closely contested and although Republican Party won, the winning party gave in to the democrat demands. The republican agreed to stop defending the freed slaves in south and immediate withdrawal of federal security, mandated to enforce reconstruction efforts in southern states, South Carolina and Louisiana (Jeffrey et al, 203). Consequently, the blacks were denied voting rights in the south. These changes reinforced the Democratic Party’s influence in the United States and in 1884; the party won the presidency led by Grover Cleveland formerly a New York governor. In the 1884 elections, the Democratic Party garnered solid votes in the south and the bordering states. In addition, the democratic presidential candidate won in Connecticut, New York, Indiana and New Jersey (Spencer, 317). After the civil war, the Democratic Party remained predominantly in support of the majority whites, alienating and condemning the freed slaves to the periphery of the society. At the same period, religious issues became a critical issue, influencing the relationship between democrats and republican in the northern states. The northern states were predominantly catholic while southerners were Protestants. The Republican Party discriminated the southern protestant migrants, which adversely undermined the party’s reformist credentials. However, the republican maintained its reformist outlook, resulting to its dominance in the United States politics from 1876 to 1928 (Schlesinger, et al 249). During this period, the democrats remained conservative, maintaining their solid support from the southern states. From 1876 to 1928, the republicans won the presidency ten out of fourteen times (Schlesinger, et al 255). Besides the southern states, the Democratic Party was in control of the bordering states Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky and Oklahoma. The republicans on the other hand controlled the remaining states in the country, with the Midwestern states except Kentucky and Missouri forming the main support of the party. In addition, the republicans won substantial support in northeastern and western states (Schlesinger, et al 258). This voting pattern continued up to 1956. According Spencer (133) the best and worst election results for both parties in the country still resembles 1876-1956 voting patterns. In the period from civil war to the great depression, the Democratic Party was not consistent in any national policy and its continued oppressing African Americans in the south, by denying them voting rights. These are the main factors that led to its dismal performance in the period. The resurgence of Democratic Party and the New Deal Program Franklin Delano Roosevelt realigned the Democratic Party policies and from 1933 to 1953, the party dominated every region in the country for twenty years. During the reign of Franklin Roosevelt, the Democratic Party implemented populists and socialist reforms through the New Deal Program to mitigate the effects of economic depression. Some of the populist reforms included social security program, the wages and hours bill and national health insurance program. The congress passed and enacted social security program but the other two bills failed. In addition working people were allowed to organize themselves the way they wished in labor unions after the Wagner Act of 1935 established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (Schlesinger, et al, 284-294) This period marked a paradigm shift of the Democratic Party policies by adopting a populists and reformist stance. However, in spite of implementing many changes under the New Deal, the party continued its tradition of supporting racial discrimination. In addition, the party sustained its efforts of promoting American patriotism and international aggression (Aldrich, , 144). This period marked an important period for the party especially after making radical national welfare reforms and establishing bureaucratic regulatory mechanisms in the business sector. This period began new direction for Democratic Party, which gradually shifted its conservative stance to a reform minded direction, embracing the aspirations and the needs of the wider American society. The outbreak of the Second World War reinforced the Democratic Party hold on American politics. The war revived the economy by creating employment opportunities William, 185). By the end of war, America emerged as the victor and exerted its position as the leading economic and military power in the world. The democratic policy of investing heavy resources in development of atomic bomb finally yielded results when Japan surrendered after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From 1933 to 1968, Democratic Party dominated the United States politics in a period where the country became a global superpower. During this period, communism became the major threat for the democratic led US government. In 1950s, the Democratic Party still relied heavily on the solid votes from southern states while the African Americans were still banned from voting and engaging in gainful employment apart from manual jobs. Hence, the blacks in southern states still supported the Republican Party because of racist stance of Democratic Party. In 1936 presidential election, Roosevelt was reelected as the president receiving 71% of the total black vote (Schlesinger, et al, 286).This period marked a change of the African American traditional support of the Republican Party. This trend was repeated in 1948 when Harry Truman, a democratic candidate received 77% of the total African American votes. The shift of allegiance from republican to Democratic Party resulted after drastic social and economic reforms that democrats implemented after election of Roosevelt. Roosevelt successors introduced social reforms addressing racial segregation in the country. For example, Harry Truman ordered desegregation of the armed forces in 1948 and issued the first executive order to address racial discrimination in federal employment (Aldrich, 100). The passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under the influence a democratically elected president Lyndon Johnson secured the African Americans allegiance to the party William, 244). The act banned racial segregation in all public places and consequently Johnson received a record 94% of the total black votes in the country that was only bettered by Barack Obama, who garnered 95% of the vote in 2008 elections. In 1965, Johnson signed Voting Rights Act to law and the Democratic Party practically secured the black vote. No presidential candidate from the rival Republican Party has ever secured more than 15% of African American vote since then (Bositis). Voting along historical regional boundaries is still common in the United States, but nationalization of the American politics has drastically changed these patterns. Schlesinger et al (279) evaluated the regional voting patterns in the country in three periods, namely 1876-1928, 1932-1956 and 1960-1976. Schlesinger, et al (287) divided United States into four regional blocks, namely west, mid west, south and northeast region as shown in the map below: Figure 1: American major voting regions (Schlesinger, et al, 347) Tab 1: Regional voting patterns of the Democratic and Republican parties in the three periods (Schlesinger, et al, 364) Region 1876-1928 1932-1956 1960-1976 West Competitive Mostly democratic Republican South Solidly Democratic Solidly democratic Competitive Midwest Republican Leaning democratic Competitive North east Republican Leaning democratic Democratic The pattern indicated above shows the changing regional political orientation in the course of American history from 1876 to 1976. In the 21st century, the regional voting has changed from they way it was in the 19th century. In early 1990s elections, democrats won in states located in the Northeast, Midwest and pacific coast region. In the same elections, the republicans won in almost all southern states, the central states located west from the great lakes region (Bositis). Besides changes in regional voting patterns, the American electoral system has been characterized by disparities in electorates’ racial, religious, gender and economic status. Conclusion Since 1960s, the majority of the minority groups, such as African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Hispanics, Native American groups, Arabs and Muslims have been voting for Democratic Party. On the other hand, most Christian white Americans support the Republican Party. From 2004, a new voting pattern emerged where most voters aged below thirty years preferred a democratic presidential candidate, while older electorates voted for a republican president (Bositis). Currently the Democratic Party enjoys the most diverse support from the various groups in the United States. This is because the party has been consistent in advancing social, progressive and liberal reforms in the country since the mid 1930s. Consequently, the policies of the party favor workers, farmers, minority groups, the youth and labor unions. In the modern times, the Democratic Party supports social justice policies and poverty alleviation programs in both international and domestic front. Moreover, the party is committed to progressive taxation. The recent health care reforms supported by the Obama administration are a demonstration of the party’s commitment to sustain social welfare in the country. Work Cited Aldrich, J. Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1995. Bositis, D. “Blacks, and the 2004 Democratic National Convention.” Joint Centre for Political and Economic Studies. Retrieved on 15 November 2011. From www.jointcenter.org/ Jeffrey, E. et al. American Political Parties: Decline or Resurgence. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Books, 2001. Schlesinger, A. et al. History of American Presidential Elections: 1789-1968. Volume VII (1928-1940).New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985. Spencer, T. “The Good Neighbor League Colored Committee and the 1936 Democratic Presidential Campaign.” Journal of Negro History .63.1(1978): 300-350. William, J. Parties, Politics and the Public Policy in America. 8ed. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1998. Read More