U.S. Political Eras 1788-2020    

Elections 1828-1852
 Federalism vs. State's Rights and Democracy vs. Republican- the Fight Begins

Elections 1856-1896
Civil War Ends, Northeast Takes Control, The Gilded Age Built by Poor, Especially Women, Immigrants, and Blacks

Elections 1896-1928
 Progressives  and Populists Finally End to the Gilded Age But Business Power Would Return After WW I.
 

Elections 1932-1996
 Party Control Flip Flops Like a Yoyo but Progress Is Being Made.
20th Century Summary
the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
2000 - 2020 Elections
Political Polarity Increases

Author's Ramblings     Additional Course Materials   

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Updated 10/4/22   Please link to, use to educate and share.

Political Eras

Important Events

Elections 1788-1824 England's Political Influence Finally Ends and the South Has Some Success in Controlling Northern Business Interests.\

The causes of the American Revolution began as a disagreement over the way in which Great Britain treated the colonies versus the way the colonies felt they should be treated. Americans felt they deserved all the rights of Englishmen.

Federalists favored unity through  a strong central government, close ties to Britain, a centralized banking system, and close links between the government and the men of wealth who should run government.

 Republicans under Jefferson Madison and Monroe  strongly opposed Alexander Hamilton's Federalist agenda. They stressed being more of a Republic where the individual is sovereign as opposed to democracy where the sovereign is the group, the majority.

1) Executive privilege was used by G.W. to keep Jay Treaty documents from Congress. Other Presidents would claim the right, courts would sometimes have to decide legality. Think NSA data spying.
2) 1791 Whiskey Rebellion against federal taxes failed. It would be the first of many fights concerning federal government taxes.
Think The Tea Party.
3) A Quasi-War with France was not escalated by Adams despite the desires of his Cabinet. He used the Alien and Sedition Acts to limited citizen's Constitutional rights. of those was revolutionary ravaged Europe caused US. A few went to jail . It would be the first of many attempts to have a U.S President and Congress to ignore the Constitution. Think the Pentagon Papers and War on Terror.
4) The "American System"  was initiated by Alexander Hamilton and financed by the  "Tariff of Abominations. It included infrastructure improvements, a national bank to encourage productive Eastern enterprises and a national currency. The tariff caused the Nullification Crisis.
as states wanted to declare federal laws unenforceable.  It resulted with Adams to be a one term president. The fight was over tariffs which hurt middle America and helped business. Tariffs continue until post WW II Free Trade Agreements took their place. Think 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and 2015 Trans Pacific Partnership.
5) First Barbary War was our first on foreign soil. It stopped payment of tribute to Mediterranean pirates. War on Terror Begins.
6) Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and 1819 and 1821 treaties brought Florida from Spain. Later we would use military force against Mexico to expand westward.
7) War of 1812 protected freedom of the Sea and ended hostilities with Britain. By 1814, the U.S. was not being able to settle was caused fiscal problems and defaulted on her debt.
8) Bank of United States failed to have it's charter renewed in an attempt to limit business influence.  But paying for the War of 1812 required such an institution. The battle of North East business interest vs. South and West rural interest continues today. Think Bailout Prevention Act and the Tea Party.
9) 1920 Missouri Compromise admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state postponing conflict. Think long-term government financial liabilities being ignored to foster political harmony.
10 ) The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 keeps U.S. out of European politics and vice versa until WWI.

When the Democratic-Republican Party of the Jefferson became factionalized in the 1820's, Andrew Jackson's supporters began to form the modern Democratic Party. It hoped to take political power from the established elites to ordinary voters.  It supported the predominance of the Presidency over the other branches of the U.S. Federal government. They continued the Bank War by opposing a bank charter renewal of Alexander Hamilton's Bank of the United State. Democrats also opposed Whig sponsored modernizing programs which they felt would helped industry at the expense of the taxpayer.  These battles continue today!  Democrats fought Adams and Anti-Jacksonian factions which soon emerged as the Whig party. They were led by Henry Clay who advocated the primacy of Congress over the Executive Branch. They opposed economic protectionism for Northeastern industry.

See Jacksonian Democracy - spoils system, Bank War, and Trail of Tears ...

Elections 1856-1896 Civil War Ends, Northeast Takes Control, The Gilded Age is Built on the Backs of the Poor, Especially Women, Immigrants, and Blacks  The civil War was followed by massive industrialization centered on rail roads, canals and steamships. Massive wealth was created. Farm mechanism lowered the cost of food and this coupled with science made for a somewhat more prosperous middle class. Immigrants suffered.

Elections1896-1928  Progressives  and Populists Finally End to the Gilded Age But Business Power Would Return After WW I. The 1896 realigning election resulted in a Republican Party forged conservative coalition. It consisted of businessmen, professionals, skilled factory workers, and prosperous farmers. There would be much opposition resulting in two unsettled decades.
Progressive Era. It was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the early 1920s. The Progressive movement's had many goals. One was eliminating corruption in government by exposing political machines and their bosses. The  hope was  a more direct democracy. This put election reform high on the agenda. Progressives also sought regulation of monopolistic trust corporations through antitrust laws. They were seen as a means of promoting fair competition which would benefit of consumers. An increase in  post WW I Communist and Union activities caused a fear of anarchy not seen since the French Revolution. A result was a public desire for a more peaceful Republican Party government. It would not be the last Red Scare. See

Gilded Age 1 and Maybe 2?

1) The 1898 Spanish–American War was desired by colonial empire and business interests. Business also had pushed for the 1897 Dingley Tariff Act which  promoted industry at the expense of consumers who paid  higher tariff induced prices. The Gold Standard protected savers from inflation but its inflexible money supply caused hard times.
2) The Panama Canal acquisition of 1903 eventually resulted in improved transportation.
3) Progressive Republican FDR successfully fought  business Trusts. First with the 1906 Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food & Drug Act. The Hepburn Act increased Interstate Commerce Commission regulation of Rail Road Trusts which still managed to control rates and competitors.
4) American Antiquities Act of 1906 created National Monuments and was one of many conservation activities.
5) The  Panic of 1907 needed help from both J.P.  Morgan and the Treasury as more liquidity was needed than Morgan's wealth could provide. Liquidity would be provided by the 1913 the Federal Reserve Act. The FED would be the Lender of Last Resort. The act wax designed by Wall Street bankers who continue to dominate the country's financial activities. Think Great Recession.
6) Democrat Woodrow Wilson would continue the progressive agenda.  The Revenue Act of 1913 substituted income taxes for lower tariffs and this lowered the price of consumer goods. The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 was a major effort to control business trusts. The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 outlawed specific conduct putting teeth into Sherman Antitrust Act. The Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916 increased credit to rural family farmers and the Keating–Owen Act of 1916 temporally lowered child labor abuses..
7) Segregated government continued as Wilson was like progressives T. Roosevelt and T. Jefferson's he also felt Americans were not ready for integration.
8) The Revenue Act of 1921 and Revenue Acts of 1924,1926,1928 reduced  taxes so only richest 2% paid  income taxes. Think 2 W. Bush tax cuts. The Fordney McCumber Tariff Act was one of many  protectionist measures during the decade. Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 to protect US industries failed to help as Canada, France and others retaliated. A Mexican Repatriation program help unemployed Mexican citizens return home. It represented  forced out migration. Think current immigration problems.
9)  Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 resulted in the Flood Control Act of 1928. It created the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to watch over public infrastructure..
10) The 16th, 17th, and 19th amendments made some progressive policies permanent.

 Republicans were penalized by outrage caused during the summer of 1932 because of Veteran Bonus Army deaths.  It combined with the of Hoover's domestic policies and change was demanded. A similar major change happened with Reagonomics,  See Liberal Richard Wolff's Video On Reaganomics

Democrats promoted American Liberalism. It anchored in a coalition of specific liberal groups, especially ethno-religious constituencies (Catholics, Jews, African Americans). White Southerners, well-organized labor unions, urban political machines, progressive intellectuals, and populist farm groups were also courted.

Continued at US Economic Normality 1945-2015 &  World Changed and Good Jobs Disappeared

he 1987 Fairness Doctrine exclusion for the communication industry meant  presenting contrasting views was not required of radio stations. Conservative and liberal and party polarization increased.

"And Now the Rest of the Story"

1) For the first time U.S. leaders used massive debt to solve a major non-military problem (SS and rural electrification ...). Like military debt, this new type of debt would be negated by economic growth and inflation which allowed easy refinancing with little paid back (retired).
Think Can contingent liabilities from SS and Medicare be outgrown?

2) Marshall Plan & NATO prevented a repeat of post WW I type international problems and officially ended Monroe Doctrine isolationism.

3) President Eisenhower pulled out of South Korean and warned of a Military Industrial Complex.

4) Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the worst ever Cold War nuclear crises, was properly managed.

5) Social Security Amendments of 1965 created Medicare and Medicaid.

6) Voting Rights Act of 1965 assured minority registration and voting ending a 100 year government stalemate.

7) Vietnam War and Watergate scandal

8) Camp David Accords of 1978 was the high point of recent Middle East peace efforts.

9) Tax Act of 1980 began a trend of cutting everyone's income taxes.

10) Too Big to Fail policy rescued Continental Illinois Bank and signaled the beginning of financial industry problems.

11) Coalition of the First Gulf War in1990 repelled invasion of Kuwai

12) Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act a1999 repealed the Great Depression Glass–Steagall Act.
Did this contribute to the Great Recession? How Much?

13) Terrorism strikes on 9/11caused fear that subsides a little, then returns before the 2016 presidential election.

14) Great Recession ended but slow nominal growth means real national debt will drop slowly as compared to WW2 debt.

T

"And Now the Rest of the Story"

1) 2001 Bush Named War on Terrorism begins

2) 2011 Don't Ask, Don't Tell battle conducted
on talk radio was ended..

3) 2010 Affordable Care Act survived Supreme Court Political Management  and may begin to solve a long existing problem.

4)  2018 Chinas Emerging Political System
prompts Trade Troubles

Part 2 Decades of Supreme Court Jurisprudence.