By Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, Hamilton
In 1860, Trump would have been a Democrat. So would McConnell, Daines, Gianforte, etc., because then cotton was “king” and most men after big money wanted to own cotton plantations and lots of free slave labor.
Between 1900 and 1936, the two platforms switched.
Our country’s founders didn’t want there to be parties — so they are not mentioned in the Constitution — but turns out that’s the way it had to work. So basically there have been two major parties since the 1850s, one that appeals to wealthier people who want to maintain the status quo, and one that wants the government to use its power to help improve the lives of society as a whole.
In 1860, only about a quarter of the American population lived in the South, but that included the plantation owners. The North was more traditionally industrial and depended on paid labor — however poorly paid.
The slaveowners called themselves Democrats; the industrialists called themselves Republicans. So yes, it was the Democrats who seceded from the Union to form the Confederacy and keep their slaves.
Decades passed and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR; 1882-1945) also called himself a Democrat. He was certainly among the wealthy, but World War I (1914-1918), the stock market crash of 1929, and the resulting Great Depression in the 1930s made clear to the US population that it would take some major social programs to help the economy and everyday folks recover. Hence FDR’s New Deal, including the Social Security Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Federal Reserve System, and so on.
That helped us all and continues to do so in ways, but gradually the wealthy began to object to so much government interference in who got the power and the money, and since about 1936 they have call themselves Republicans. They also tend to take pride in calling themselves capitalists — as opposed to communists, and they have worked and worked since the 1930s to make sure you never forget that they are saving you from such a fate.
They also fail to point out that many capitalists exploit their workers, the object being to optimize profits, not the well-being of anyone but themselves.
So if you and your family and friends have “always” voted for one party or the other, take a step back from the name. Look at the candidates and look at what programs they support that would actually help YOU. Then vote.
(Sources available on request.)