Lesson 20: Third Parties

     A third party is a group that opposes the two current political parties, or promotes a certain issue in the nation.  A third party can draw the votes of one party away in an election, which spoils the election run of the party.
     Third parties usually take up an important issue that needs attention and make it widely known to the people.  This influences the people's opinion on what matters should be addressed by the president.

Lesson 19: Political Party Eras

     The Political Party Eras began with the Federalist and Democratic-Republican Parties.  They started over a disagreement of which layer of government should hold the most power, the Federalists favoring the strong central government, and the Democratic-Republicans favoring the common people.
     These two Parties later formed into the Democratic and Whig Parties, who both opposed each other for the same reasons.  Both of these Parties split apart over beliefs in slavery.  This issue led to the birth of the Republican Party, which was comprised mainly of former Whigs.
     The Republican Party lasted until the Great Depression of the 1900's when its members claimed that "legislation could not cure America's economic woes."
     This led to the rise of the Progressive Party who opposed the Republican's view on the Depression.  The Progressive Party lasted until the Vietnam War of 1968, when the Republican and Democratic Parties both took over again and have remained to this day.