At the beginning of our country, President Washington warned the people not to split into political parties.

Political parties formed anyways because the people around the country were too different. The first parties that formed were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.

After The War of 1812, the Federalists did not have enough supporters to go on. This left the Democratic-Republicans all alone. This was the beginning of the one-party system.

The One-Party system worked well at the beginning. All of the Democratic-Republicans got along and they did not have anyone to challenge them.

But then the different sections of the country began having disagreements. The Democratic-Republicans could not stay as one group anymore. They broke up into the Democratic Party and the National Republican party.

Tariffs!

National Bank!

Internal improvements!

The National Republican Party, also known as the Whigs, wanted to make changes to the country. They wanted protective tariffs, the National Bank, and internal improvements for the country.

No tariffs!

No bank!

No internal improvements!

The Democratic party did not want to make these changes to the country. The Democrats were against protective tariffs, against the National Bank, and against internal improvements. They supported states rights and a limited government, just like President Jefferson did.

Youse guys!

The Republican party was made of many Northerners. Their manufacturing economy could benefit from the protective tariffs, which would make sure that their products always had a demand.

Y'all!