Dayna Talbot: Political ideologies of the 1800s have swapped places today

To The Daily Sun,

Though I did not read Charles Ajootian's letter, after reading Joseph Keller’s letter I felt it important to clarify some American history.

The Democratic and Republican parties have not always had the same ideals that they have today. In fact, America's two dominant political parties have essentially flipped ideologies in the time since they were founded. The Democratic Party was founded in 1828 while the Republican Party dates back to 1854.

In its early years, the Republican Party was considered quite liberal, while the Democrats were known for staunch conservatism. This is the exact opposite of how each party would be described today. So it is true, Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, made a fortune but he was a Democrat with the ideology of today's Republican. Under (Republican) President Abraham Lincoln, Republicans passed laws that granted protections for Black Americans and advanced social justice (for example the Civil Rights Act of 1866 though this failed to end slavery). Lincoln was a Republican with the ideology of today’s Democrat.

Again, Democrats largely opposed these apparent expansions of federal power. It has been documented that sometime between the 1860s and 1936, the (Democratic) party of small government became the party of big government, and the (Republican) party of big government became rhetorically committed to curbing federal power.

I have to admit I did not know this until I went back to college at the age of 50 and had to take an American history class. Being a nontraditional student, I purchased a book to help me with the class, “The Complete Idiot's Guide to American History," by Alan Axelrod, Ph.D.

Dayna Talbot

Meredith