19th century The first two major parties in the United States were the
Federalist Party and the
Democratic-Republican Party. The Federalists experienced success in the 1790s but lost power in the
1800 elections and collapsed after the
War of 1812. Many former Federalists, including
John Quincy Adams, became members of the Democratic-Republican Party. After the
1824 presidential election, the Democratic-Republicans fractured between supporters of Adams and supporters of
Andrew Jackson. Jackson's followers formed the Democratic Party, while those who supported Adams formed the
National Republican Party. Two short-lived but significant third parties, the
Anti-Masonic Party and the
Nullifier Party, also arose during this period. In the 1830s, opponents of Jackson coalesced into the
Whig Party. The United States experienced another period of political realignment in the 1850s. The Whigs collapsed as a national party due to sectional tensions regarding slavery. The Republican Party and the
American Party both sought to succeed the Whigs as the main opposition to the Democratic Party, and the Republicans eventually became the most popular party in the Northern United States. The Republicans absorbed many Northern Whigs, as well as some anti-slavery Democrats and much of the
Free Soil Party. Notable Whigs who joined the Republican Party include
Abraham Lincoln and
William Seward, while notable Democrats who joined the Republican Party include
Hannibal Hamlin and
Galusha A. Grow. Many Southern Whigs became Democrats, though some formed the
Constitutional Union Party to contest the
1860 presidential election. During the
Reconstruction Era that followed the
American Civil War, many Republicans and African Americans held office in the South. Republicans dissatisfied with
Radical Republican President
Ulysses S. Grant formed the
Liberal Republican Party for the
1872 presidential election, and many of these Liberal Republicans later joined the Democratic Party. After the end of Reconstruction the Republican Party generally dominated the North, while a resurgent Democratic Party dominated the South. By the late 19th century, as the Democratic and Republican parties became more established, party switching became less frequent. Nonetheless major conflicts in both major parties occurred in the 1890s, largely over the issue of
monetary policy, and Republican supporters of
free silver formed the
Silver Republican Party. Many of these, including
Henry M. Teller and
Fred Dubois, later joined the Democratic Party.
20th century Following
Theodore Roosevelt's loss to
William Howard Taft in the
1912 Republican Party presidential primaries, Roosevelt and his followers broke off from the Republican party to form the
Bull Moose Party. Wisconsin senator
Robert M. La Follette also launched a presidential bid under the
Progressive Party in 1924 after both the Republican Party and Democratic Party nominated conservative candidates. A period of realignment commenced following the onset of the
Great Depression, as President
Franklin D. Roosevelt constructed the successful
New Deal coalition. Over the ensuing decades, Roosevelt's Democrats embraced several tenets of
modern American liberalism, while the Republican Party tended to favor
conservatism. The transition into today's Democratic Party was cemented in 1948, when
Harry Truman introduced a pro-civil rights platform and, in response, many Democrats walked out and formed the
Dixiecrats. Most rejoined the Democrats over the next decade, but in the 1960s,
Lyndon Johnson passed the
Civil Rights Act and
Voting Rights Act. The civil rights movement had also deepened existing racial tensions in much of the Southern United States, and Republican politicians developed strategies that successfully contributed to the
political realignment of many white, conservative voters in the South who had traditionally supported the Democratic Party rather than the Republican Party. These approaches are known as
the Southern strategy. Anti-civil rights members left the Democratic Party in droves, and Senator
Strom Thurmond, the Dixiecrats' presidential candidate from 1948, joined the Republican Party. ==Notable party switchers==