US History: Democrats vs. Republicans

Student's Name
Professor's Name
Course
Date
U.S. History
Topic 3: How have American political parties evolved over the years, particularly the Democrats and the Republicans? Aside from these two major parties, what was one other in American history that you found interesting and why?
The first president of the independent United States, George Washington, had a rather pessimistic view of the adoption of the political parties and strived to form a government deviant of the political parties (Hofstadter). Soon afterward, ideological differences between the founding fathers proved Washington's idea inconceivable and led to the sprouting of the era of political parties. Over the centuries, the two giant political parties have undergone an ideological transformation in separate pathways, leading to the heightened antagonism between the two in the contemporary era.
The Republican Party, for the better part of the 19th century, established itself as a party that supports the free economy and largely remained conservative in its political policies. In contrast, the Democratic Party adopted a relatively liberal political ideology that cared more about the minority groups, the federal economy, and more autonomy to the private citizen (Wagner). Towards the end of the 19th century, the tables turned for the giant parties, Democrats ditching the conservative ideologies while adopting more progressive ideas (Wagner and Fish). The era of the great recession and the Civil Rights period saw a dramatic shift in the two parties' ideologies, as the Democrats advocated for more control of the federal economy and permitted the minority groups to exercise their civil rights. These ideas did not sit well with the Republicans, who remained conservative and angled towards white supremacism. From the mid-20th century, the political ideologies of the two giant parties have majorly been based on foreign policy, health care reforms, and economic concerns.
The Federalist Party of the late 18th century remains one of the greatest parties in American political history despite disintegrating in 1823 and its legacy overshadowed by the two giant political parties (Almog 204). The party won the presidency through John Adams and had great legacies, including establishing the country's fiscal integrity and initiation of the neutrality policy on foreign affairs that became fundamental through the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century.
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: Foreign policy deliberation (Longley)
Topic 4: Why were the decades of the late 19th and early 20th centuries known as the Gilded Age? What were some political, social, and economic factors tied to this period? Using material from the modules or additional basic research, describe o...