History of Modern Day Politics Essential Question: How did William Jennings Bryan contribute to

In the book “A Magnificent Catastrophe” the author, Edward J. Larson, writes about all of the little details that has occurred in the First Presidential Campaign in the 1800s. He begins his book with how the two parties, the Republicans (Jefferson) and Federalists (Adams), were going to compete in who will govern the United States now that it is a free country and no longer under Britain’s rule. Although they had at first been friends they soon became enemies because of how they believed the government should be. Jefferson believed that the government should be a populist government that trusted popular rule. While Adams believed that America should have a strong government and that al

Though the election of 1824 was historically significant for multiple reasons, one stands out in particular: it was the first modern campaign of the United States, where all of the candidates ran for President. Previous elections had been marked by candidates from two political parties, who were nominated for President, but did not campaign during the election. The choice was decided mainly off of electors, with less say coming from the people than it would in upcoming elections. During the early 19th century, political campaigns and elections began to change dramatically, as the increase in allowed voter participation, the emergence of political parties and sectional differences, and the importance placed on campaign tactics began to greatly

During the latter half of the nineteenth century, major political issues of the United States of America, were emphasized by political conflict and power struggles. Many of the partisan disputes were of propaganda origin, with various “sham issues” prevalent in dominate debates. The predominant parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, were at each other’s throats for power not giving all efforts to the nations citizens.

William Jennings Bryan supported many large political movements over the course of his career. Though it never achieved the success he had desired, Bryan’s bimetallic or ‘silver’ movement instigated a great deal of political change. Functioning as Bryan’s entrance into politics, the silver debate gave him a large and powerful political voice against the Gold Standard movement. This power resulted in the combinations of several different political parties into Bryan’s camp; in addition, it helped to splinter his opposition party, the Republicans. Bryan’s most famous speech, the ‘Cross of Gold’, named the bimetallic standard movement as a moral debate instead of merely an economic one, and, in the speech, he made numerous Biblical references comparing the standard and its followers to Christ on the Cross. In addition to the bimetallic standard, some of Bryan’s strongest political opinions surrounded prohibition and the dangers of legalized alcohol. Bryan’s opinions on alcohol were so strong that they resulted

Since 1952, television has played a major role in presidential elections. Television allows candidates to reach a broad number of people, and personalities, to help push along their campaigns. Campaigns help the candidates just as much as the voters. The candidates get to be identified, and known to the voters, and the voters get to hear and see how a specific candidate identifies with their needs and wants. The best way to get this information out there is through the most used form of media, television.

William Jennings Bryan was born in Illinois in 1960, inheriting his parents commitment to the Democratic party. William graduated from Illinois College and Union Law school, and seeing no future in politics in Illinois moved to Nebraska in 1987. When the Populist party interrupted Nebraska politics, William Jennings Bryan was vote into Congress and was reelected in 1892. In 1894, William led Nebraska’s Democrats to support the state Populist party. William thrilled the Democratic Convention of 1896 with his Cross of Gold speech about free silver and seized the presidential nomination. William traveled over eighteen thousand miles, speaking to thousands of voters but lost to William McKinley whose victory started a generation of Republican dominance.

When George Washington was elected President in 1789 by members of the fledgling United States of America, he was setting into motion a tradition that has stood the test of over 225 years - the presidential election. Even as the United States has seen dozens of wars, made hundreds of scientific advances, and selected thousands of politicians to seats everywhere from small town councils to Congress, the principles of the election have remained the same; the people band together to determine who will best protect their interests at home and assure that the US will always remain on top in foreign policy. Oftentimes, this is found to be a difficult decision, as public opinion is constantly wavering. One sees this in action particularly during the 1992 election - a battle of wills between Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Ross Perot; complete with lead changes, major vote swings, and Perot’s unprecedented initial success - ultimately a false alarm to the bipartisan establishment.

William Jennings Bryan was born in Salem, Illinois. He was educated at Illinois College in Jacksonville and Union Law School in Chicago. Bryan practiced law in Jacksonville for several years, but in 1887 moved to Lincoln, Nebraska where he hoped to launch a political career. The Bryans became active in civic affairs and started different discussion groups for men and women where the subject was often politics.He was the Democratic candidate for Congress in a Republican district in Nebraska, but he won the election by a comfortable margin and was reelected in 1892. He made a bid for the Senate in 1894 but was defeated.

It is very common among the United States’ political sphere to rely heavily on T.V. commercials during election season; this is after all the most effective way to spread a message to millions of voters in order to gain their support. The presidential election of 2008 was not the exception; candidates and interest groups spent 2.6 billion dollars on advertising that year from which 2 billion were used exclusively for broadcast television (Seelye 2008.) Although the effectiveness of these advertisements is relatively small compared to the money spent on them (Liasson 2012), it is important for American voters to think critically about the information and arguments presented by these ads. An analysis of the rhetoric in four of the political

The Election of 1800 was notably to be of the most significant elections in American history of governmental evolvement. It marked once power struggle to a astonishing transfer of power from one party to another in national government; this transfer of power was also accomplished in a non-violent and organized fashion, which marked the evolving maturity of the nation's first system of political parties . The election was a party contest for control of the national government and for determining the direction and management of national policy. This election was the first time both parties used congressional caucuses to nominate candidates for their ballots which was a never heard of occurrence in that day and age. This specific election also made second history in the first, as it was the first presidential election to be decided in the House of Representatives.

Enter the presidential election of 1860, which brought these tribulations to a clash with dramatic cost. The Democratic Party divided into three groups along their provincial lines, with each person vying for control of the party and each holding dissimilar ideas about how to deal with servitude in the West. Their candidates consisted of John C. Breckinride, John Bell, and Stephen A. Douglas; their efforts would be rubbish, however, as Abraham Lincoln would be triumphant for the Republican Party. Lincoln stood on the grounds that the West should be completely liberated of slavery entirely; which apparently was sufficient as he won the election with less than forty percent of the popular vote. On a side note about the election, fifty-nine percent of the

Election campaigns slowly became debates on societal issues. They were not only discussed by the elite, but also by the people from the lower classes, who demanded the rights to vote and elect their officers.

In campaigning, media coverage plays a large role for candidates. They use the media to make their name heard and image seen. “Nearly everything a candidate does is geared toward the media, especially television” (Stuckey, 1999, p. 99) Candidates make appearances on talk shows,

Today, political parties are an authoritative and essential component of the United States political system. However, it is important to examine how the political parties began and evolved over hundreds of years, since they were first established. In 1794, the major political parties were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. The major difference between these two was that the Federalists favored a strong central government, while the Democratic-Republicans preferred a central government with limited power and more state control. At the time of the election, it seemed that the prominent, distinguished Federalist Party clearly had the upper hand, but in the end the

Political campaigns are very significant in American politics and elections. It is the period before the electorate makes political decisions in the form of elections. The attention of the citizens towards politics intensifies as the date of the elections draws near. The salience of voters improves as the election date draws near and could manifest in the form of increased media attention. Political discussions, campaign interest, strength of the intention to vote, and knowledge about the candidates are other manifestations of increased salience of voters. Another indication of improved intensity is the effort put by the candidates and their political parties in the campaigns. Parties increase their efforts in the