History of the Democratic Party in the United States

Democratic Party in the North-South Conflict period

Introduction to History of the Democratic Party

A voter backlash severely changed the party’s fortunes in the mid-1850s. The Democratic commitment to limited national power extended to the question of whether or not slavery should expand into new territories. Party leaders such as Lewis Cass and Stephen A. Douglas favored local control, or popular sovereignty, rather than congressional regulation. This did not satisfy some party supporters and others outside the party. Southern gains in the territories provoked bitter anger. At the same time, the Democrats’ long-standing interrelationship with immigrant workers also caused severe problems. Greatly increased immigration in the 1850s transformed many areas of the country and seemed to threaten American values. The result was an electoral disaster, as many northern Democrats, seeking to punish their leaders and willing to throw aside their party, joined the emerging Republicans. These defections cost the party a large part of its northern support and enhanced the power of the southern wing within party councils in the late 1850s.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about History of the Democratic Party in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to History of the Democratic Party

In this Section

Democratic Party, Jacksonian Party, History of the Democratic Party (in the North-South Conflict period), Democratic Party in the Lincon Administration, Democratic Party Divisions, Wilsonian Era, New Deal, Democratic Party After Eisenhower, Democratic Party in the Carter Administration, Democratic Party in the Reagan Administration, Democratic Party in the Clinton Administration, Al Gore, Democratic Party in the Bush Administration, Barack Obama.