Despite these early statements against partisanship, opposing factions emerged at the end of the 1700s representing two different opinions about the role of the federal government. The Federalists urged a strong central administration that would dominate the states and ensure national unity, while the Republicans believed that the individual states should have more power. In fact, the form of government officially established by the Constitution was a federal republic, so these parties were emphasizing the importance of either national or state power. Alexander Hamilton found himself in the Federalist camp, whereas Thomas Jefferson sided with the Republicans-although neither prominent national founder held the rigidly partisan or doctrinaire outlook typical of many American politicians today. Moreover, the chief disagreement of these early parties was over the distribution of power within the United States government; their members agreed on most moral, economic, social, and foreign policy issues such as slavery, domestic trade, the family, and isolationism.
During the 1800s, the parties evolved and grew further apart, especially over the issue of slavery. Federalists changed their name to Republicans and opposed slavery and the secession of the South, while the heretofore Republicans became Democratic-Republicans and declared support for slavery and secession. At this stage, one party was championing a grave injustice which most Americans instinctively understood was evil. The Democratic-Republicans received backing primarily from wealthy Southern landowners, who insisted on keeping slaves for cheap labor. After Republican president Abraham Lincoln waged the Civil War, declared emancipation, and reunited the South, the Democratic Party remained the faction of Southern landlords' continued rebellion against the North and repression of Black political rights. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Democrats also gained support from blue-collar workers in Northern cities as the Industrial Revolution created a new underclass. Meanwhile, Republicans attracted backing from the new class of wealthy Northern capitalists and from supporters of Black civil rights nationwide.
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