History
The Massachusetts Democratic Party and the National Democratic Party trace their roots to the latter half of the 18th century, when politicians forged alliances based on common national interests. In 1792, Thomas Jefferson founded the Democratic-Republican Party, commonly referred to as the “party of the common man.” Jefferson’s new party was adamantly opposed to what it saw as the Federalist Party’s elitist agenda. Jefferson served two consecutive terms as the first Democratic Republican President of the United States beginning in 1800. James Madison, another Democratic-Republican, succeeded Jefferson in 1808, followed by fellow party member James Monroe in 1812. The party was briefly divided during the election of John Quincy Adams in 1824, in which four Democratic candidates ran for office. Andrew Jackson assumed the leadership of the party following this period, and reunified its constituents. Jackson defined the party’s platform and established the Democratic National Convention as a means of organizing and implementing the party’s agenda on a national scale. With consecutive presidential victories in 1828 and 1832, Jackson succeeded in solidifying the Democratic-Republicans as a powerful national political party. The name was simplified to the Democratic Party at the Democratic National Convention of 1844. The Civil War and the question of slavery divided many of the nation’s Democratic Party members. But as the 19th century was ending, the party found a new strength in an old ideal. The Democrats’ long-held suspicions of aristocratic leaders and the wealthy elite struck a chord with immigrants and working class citizens during the early half of the 19th century. This sentiment solidified the party’s ranks in the decades following the Civil War, particularly in Massachusetts, where Irish immigrants, rural farmers, fishermen, and skilled laborers flooded the city of Boston and the surrounding towns. At the same time, the Republican Party had emerged from the Civil War with strong northern support for its anti-slavery stance. As the 20th century unfolded, both parties would strengthen their ranks and form the current two-party system of American politics.
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“The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
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“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
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