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About the Class
Starting a country is like starting a company. There are many arguments. For example, in business, should all the decisions be made at the central office, or should local offices have their decision making powers? Well, the Founding Fathers had to answer a similar question - "Should the United States have a strong central government, or should states have strong decision-making rights also?"
The Constitution makes no mention of political parties. However, we have them. John Adams was a Federalist and Thomas Jefferson was a Democrat- Republican. Democrat-Republican?
Andrew Jackson was a strong Democrat. His opponents were members of the Whig Party. Whig Party? Other influential parties were the Free Soil Party, the Dixiexrats, and my favorite - The Know Nothing Party. Shouldn''t all politicians be members of The Know Nothing Party?
Long before Democrats and Republicans were fighting with each other, we had many other parties that fought among each others. In this class, we''ll learn about these parties and how their views shaped the United States.
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Keywords: american government