Democratic-Republicans

=Democrats & Republicans= toc

The exact meaning of Democrat is "A supporter of democracy; an advocate of democratic politics & principles." The meaning of Republican is "having the supreme power lying in the body of citizens, entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them; an anti-monarchist; Someone who favours social equality and opposes aristocracy." But there was a deeper meaning in what the Americans, in the 17-1800s, thought it meant. When they thought of Democrats, Republicans, or even Democracy itself, they thought of freedom, power as one nation, and rights that were earned. There were the Democratic-Republicans, and there were the Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats-Republicans
The Democratic-Republican party was started by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and was one of the origional political parties. It was made up of mostly farmers, small business men, and workmen. The people in this party were against the Federalists' idea of stretching the powers on the Federal government. Sometimes they were called just the Republicans, and they were also against commercial, mercantile, and federal interests.

Democrats
There are many beliefs of the Democrat party, and some of them are shared by the Republicans. Equality in race, ethnic background, or religion, education wheather you can afford it or not, freedom of speech, cleanliness, keeping USA on top in technology, fair taxes, livable wages, Health care, Abortion, the separation of the Church and State, and Multi-Culturalism are the main beliefs. The Democrats focus a lot on smaller businesses, and are more for individual rights. Some of the most important Democratic presidents are Andrew Jackson, Fanklin D. Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.

Republicans
The Republican Party mostly focuses on the bigger industries, businesses, and the "rich". They believe in less federal government, and that state and local governments should have more control. Reduced taxes is a major idea among the Republicans. But the Republicans did an enormous amount of good things too. They were the ones who abolished slavery, gave free speech to the women, reduced power in the Federal government, and returned state government powers. Some of the most famous Republican presidents are Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert C. Hoover, and George W. Bush.

The Donkey and Elephant
The Donkey represents the Democratic Party, and the Elephant represents the Republicans. This idea was adopted by a cartoonist named Thomas Nast. It was all supposed to be like a joke, but actually were taken seriously. The story was that Thomas drew a donkey covered in a lion's skin, scaring away all the animals in a zoo. The Elephant, one of those animals, was labeled in the cartoon as "the republican vote". It was then adopted by the Republican Party.

Conclusion
Although there were two different parties governing the United States, they are what made democracy possible for us, even now. The Democrats were more focused on the smaller businesses, and the Republicans were focused on the "Bigger People", but that is what keeps a perfect balance, economically. There are many things that can be improved in the United States, but the US is very lucky to have any type of democracy for the people.

Picture References
Google Imageshttp://www.iowaaflcio.org/2007%20tour%20democrat%20symbol-.jpg (Donkey) Google Images http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s49/AudreyK7/RepublicanSymbol-1.jpg (Elephant) Google Images http://spatter.typepad.com/spatter/images/2008/02/05/800pxnastrepublicanelephant_2.jpg