James Madison faced with opposition to the newly created Constitution argued eloquently in The Federalist Papers that the saving grace of our new country could be establish in our huge area of territory.  Once seen as a roadblock to governance, Madison argued but the reverse.  He claimed that our vast size would protect us from ourselves.  He stated that no one item faction would be able to boss such a large land mass.  No fan of democracy, Madison stated that pure democracies have been "every bit short in their lives as they accept been violent in their deaths" in Federalist 10.  What Madison couldn't have predictable was that the trunk politic of the newly created United States would quickly coagulate in a two-party system.  This evolution relates directly back to the huge surface area of land that Madison was and so confident in.   Political parties and their relationship to the geography of the United States has played a huge role in how the nation defines itself.

Prior to independence, the question of representation was dictated by geographical conditions.  The first settlement at Jamestown in 1607 quickly evolved into a plantation economy.  This was predicated on river systems that probed deep within the colony.  This allowed for expansion into the western fringes of the colony far from the seat of government.  Because of this geographical status, settlers couldn't be expected to travel hundreds of miles to vote on every single issue.  This gave nativity to representative commonwealth equally manifested by the House of Burgesses established in 1619.  Conversely, New England colonies, without the benefit of these river systems, were forced to establish closely knit towns where people could take function in town meetings.  This gave nascency to the notion of direct republic.  Both forms of representation were a result of geographical atmospheric condition.

Early on in the republic's history, geographic distinctions led to our showtime political parties.  The mercantile, trade oriented northern states were insistent on strengthening the mitt of the federal government to protect their investments.  The crunch over the creation of a National Banking concern brought into focus our offset 2 political party system.  The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led past Thomas Jefferson.  Both men were emblematic of their respective geographic regions.  The Virginian Jefferson calling for an economy based on yeoman farmers while New Yorker Hamilton insisting on a mercantile, industrial focus.

As the United States' geography began to expand westward and so did the evolution of political parties.  The Federalists party, fearing a lack of control, argued against the Louisiana Purchase putting them at odds with the prevailing mood of the country.  Embracing western settlement, the Republicans enjoyed what has been referred to fondly as "The Era of Good Feelings".  The pressures that geography played out by the Missouri Compromise (Jefferson called it "A fire bell in the night!), eventually proved to be too much for the Democratic-Republican Party to bear.  Into the breach came Andrew Jackson.  Our first president from the "west", Jackson embodied the frontier spirit that was capturing the nation. With him was born the modernistic Autonomous Party.  As the country pushed further westward, the strains began to show.  The question of whether slavery should be allowed to have root in the westward was outset debated with Missouri.  Later the Mexican-American War, the issue became explosive.  Neither the Compromise of 1850 nor the Kansas-Nebraska Act were able to curtail the coming exclusive crisis.  A political party would sally reflective of this geographical tension.  The modern Republican Party.

At no signal in United states of america history has geography played more of a role than in the Civil War.  Southern slave holding states, reflective of their geographical location, decided that the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was the final straw.  The latter one-half of the nineteenthursday century was dominated (on the national level) past the Republican Party.  Their harsh role in subjugating the south during Reconstruction cemented what was then referred to equally "the solid s", meaning solidly Democratic.

As the nation headed into the early years of the 20th century, geography played a vital part.  The dynamics that were most prevalent were those betwixt urban and rural areas.  Rural regions, dominated by the Democratic Party, pushed back unceasingly against what they pejoratively referred to as "modernism".  Republicans on the other manus dominated industrial regions and embraced the era of the large city.  This tension was played out with the Scopes Trial in Tennessee and eventual adoption of the eighteenth Amendment prohibiting the sale, manufacturing, transportation, or the employ of alcohol in the state.

Rising from the ashes of the Great Low, the Democratic Party emerged triumphant with the ballot of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932.  His "New Deal Coalition" was heavily focused on geography as he was able to proceed a tenuous agree on western farmers, southern planters and eastern industrialists.  What's nearly fascinating most this dynamic is the role that southern blacks played.  Traditionally loyal to the Republican Party (the party of Lincoln), southern blacks began a massive shift to the Democratic Party during the 1930s.  Geography played a major role in this evolution.

The sea-alter of the Civil Rights Movement and its roots in the geography of the United States, largely define the evolution of the political parties in post-WWII America.  The embracing of northern and western Democrats of early civil rights legislation radically transformed the political landscape of the nation.  This coupled with the abandonment of civil rights every bit a priority amongst northern Republicans brings into focus a clear stardom within our contemporary political political party structure.  When President Lyndon Johnson said, after signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that "we have lost the South for a generation", he was prophetic.

If at that place is one reason I'm excited about pursuing this story map it'south that I am constantly existence asked by my students how the Autonomous Party is looked to as sympathetic to civil rights while the Republican Political party is not.  What happened to the party of Lincoln?  The political party of Reconstruction and early Amendments guaranteeing freedoms for blacks?  How could the Democrats, then long associated with Jim Crow and racial violence throughout the south, now be looked on so differently?To paraphrase a former advisor to Bill Clinton, "it'due south the geography stupid"

  • Story Map Journal: Geography'due south Bear on on the  Evolution of United States Political Parties (online resource)
    Note: The Story Map Journal application works best in Google Chrome.

Student Materials

  • Educatee Guide: Geography'southward Impact on the Evolution of U.S. Political Parties, Educatee Guide (Word)
  • Student Guide: Geography'due south Touch n the Evolution of U.South. Political Parties, Educatee Guide (PDF)
  • Student Guide: Geography's Impact on the Evolution of U.S. Political Parties, Pupil Guide (Google)

Teacher Materials

  • Lesson Programme: Geography's Bear on on the Evolution of U.S. Political Parties, Lesson Plan (Discussion)
  • Lesson Program: Geography'south Touch on the Evolution of U.S. Political Parties, Lesson Programme (PDF)
  • Lesson Program: Geography'southward Impact on the Development of U.S. Political Parties, Lesson Programme (Google) includes links to all lesson documents
  • Key to Pupil Guide: Geography'southward Impact on the Development of U.S. Political Parties, Key (Word)
  • Central to Student Guide: Geography'southward Impact on the Evolution of U.S. Political Parties, Cardinal (PDF)
  • Key to  Student Guide: Geography'south Impact on the Evolution of U.Southward. Political Parties, Primal (Google)