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The Democrats Of The Civil War Era Essay

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In the mid-1800’s, the country was split between the Republicans, who had allied with the Union, and the Democrats, who had allied with the Confederacy. Over time, the Democrats and Republicans switched platforms and ideologies back and forth multiple times. In fact, Abraham Lincoln was a Republican by name, but today we would consider him a socially left-leaning Democrat. These switches were caused by Civil Rights in the 18 and 1960’s and other major events (DeMichele). The Democrats of the Civil War era held the ideologies of today’s Republicans.They wanted lower taxes and lower national debt, but also did not favor government- enforced social policy. The Republicans of Lincoln’s time were pro-north, pro-federal power, and pro-taxes. They held the beliefs of today’s modern Democrats. The Pre-1964 Democrats were pro-limited government, no central bank, pro states’ rights, and pro-farmer. The Pre-1964 Republicans were anti-slavery, pro-globalization and trade, central bank, big government, and big business. The Pre-1964 Republicans modeled the Post- 1964 Democrats, and the Pre-1964 Democrats modeled the Post-1964 Republicans (DeMichele). When it comes to race, the Republicans took liberal stances until the 1960’s, when the Democrats became the party who took the liberal stances. In fact, every pre-Civil War President took a proslavery stance (Boyd). The Republican party was actually the leading progressive party in civil rights before 1964. The Democrats and Republicans

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