Of the People - History of the United States Assignment

Of the People - History of the United States - Assignment Example Of the People: the history of the United States describes the events of the colonial era and shades understanding of various events that culminated in the colonial era into the independence of US. It notably covers the American Revolution History among other aspects of the colonial dispensation during the reign of the British Empire. American Revolution was a consequence of a misunderstanding between the Parliament and the British legislature. These two bodies defined the war-line due to their contrasting ideology concerning taxation of the people. It was the right of the public to elect their representatives in the parliament. However, the Parliament main role was to pass bills that favored the colonialists. Britain was still in control of the parliament implying that there was no real representation of people and especially no control over the taxation control. The few elites in the parliament like George Washington disputed the ideology leading to the long-term conflict between th e parliament and colonialists. The crumble of the French Empire prior to the revolution started from within. The French holding the North American for a long time were initially engaged in war by King George. Though he never won, the war created multiple cracks in the empire that resulted to its eventual crumble. The crumble came because of massive expenditure, especially during the war. The economic destabilization eventually led to the collapse of the empire that created an opportunity to the British.

Describe the various political party systems that can be identified, Essay

Describe the various political party systems that can be identified, more or less, with the developments of the following period - Essay Example The constitution recognizes that human beings are equal and have inalienable rights. As such, most political parties in the US fight for equalitarian ideals whenever another party veers off the ideals set by the constitution; for example, the democrats often advocate for strong national government and taking care of the interests of the wealthy for economic progress forgetting social equality and on the other hand, republicans worked so hard to maintain equality (Reichley, 2000 p. 30-36).There has been many political parties pursuing different interests since independence ranging from nativism, anti-catholism, slavery, taxation, and the national bank but the dominant parties in modern USA are the democratic and republican parties. The aim of this paper is to trace the history of political party systems since independence; their ideals, nominations and elections, social groupings, major fault lines, and the changes from each era to another. To answer this question, the paper will be d ivided into five sections. The first section will cover the first party system during the period 1787-1828. Then, the second party system from 1828-1854. Thirdly, third party system period from 1854 to 1896. Followed by the fourth party system 1896-1932 and lastly, fifth party system which covers the period from 1932 to 1960s. 1787-1800 Though America declared independence in 1776, the constitution was signed in the year 1787. By then there were no political parties as was the norm in other countries of the world. It was a federal constitution and as such presidents, House of Representatives and congress were elected on a federal ticket until the 1790s when political parties were invented. The first Electoral College was constituted in 1789 and George Washington from Virginia State was elected as the president with 69 votes (Reichley, 2000 p. 29). His vice president was John Adams of Massachusetts. After assuming office, Washington chose Thomas Jefferson as the secretary of state an d Hamilton as secretary of treasury. These two posts were very vital in the administration of the state thus the holders of these offices were close confidants of the president. Hamilton as the secretary of treasury was involved in making policies on development and as such he embarked on an ambitious economic program of ensuring the national state remained dominant or in control. The program involved assuming national and state debts by the federal government, establishing a national bank and levying taxes especially on whiskey (Reichley, 2000 p. 30). His philosophy was the inclusion of business interests as part of ensuring rapid economic growth in the belief that the support for commerce and manufacturing was for the benefit of all citizens. However, some individuals thought that he was reverting to the monarchical era and criticized him for placing less value on social equality which is one of the principles of the constitution. Though he conceived that there may be an abuse of power if too much power is placed on national government, he also believed that the civil society could remedy the situation (P. 30). The national bank was of such importance that different factions kept arguing about whether it should exist or not. Some individuals mostly republicans were also opposed to the idea of the federal government assuming debts and making workers pay high taxes to recover such debts. The only people who profited from such a move were speculators who had expected high