The party was originally meant to oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act. They were against the spread of slavery. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican President. Lincoln only won 40% of the popular vote to secure the presidency and won none of the southern states. This caused most of the south to secede. During the Civil War, the Republican Party wanted a united Union and fought for the end of slavery. Once the war ended, the Republicans continued with their aggressive march towards equality with Radical Reconstruction. During the period of Radical Reconstruction, blacks in the south began experiencing a great deal of prosperity, Blacks were even able to become government officials. After the Reconstruction Era, the Republican party continued to favor high tariffs on foreign goods and the gold standard. Theodore Roosevelt, a more liberal Republican, pushed for more government control in the economy by getting rid of monopolies, so that small businesses could succeed. Other members of the Republican Party believed it was better to allow the businesses to function with few regulations. The laissez-faire approach to the economy appealed to people more than the Democratic Presidential Candidate Woodrow Wilson’s desire to put government regulation on the economy. During the times of the Great Depression, the appeal of laissez-faire began to decay. People began wishing for the government to intervene in the …show more content…
In general Democrats are for an increase in social securities’ benefits and for keeping it, while Republicans want to reform social security. Democrats want more intervention in the economy, while Republicans want less government regulations. Republicans are against more regulation on guns, but Democrats would like more regulations on guns. Republicans are generally against abortion, while Democrats believe that people should have the choice to have an abortion. Republicans would like to restrict immigration more and favor deporting illegal immigrants. Democrats want to offer illegal immigrants a chance to gain citizenship. There are some members of both parties that oppose and are for gay rights, but in general Democrats are more for it, and Republicans are against it. Both parties are against drug usage, but the Republican Party are harsher than the Democratic Party. Republicans want to enforce current laws and punish people more for their crimes. They also mostly believe that the death penalty is a good deterrent for crime. Democrats want the death penalty to be used more carefully and with more evidence. Democrats are more about the prevention of crime rather than the punishment for crimes. Democrats believe in universal healthcare, but Republicans believe that private health