Changes

As revolutionary ideals spread in the late 18th and 19th centuries in Europe, the emerging republics and nation-state began to develop concepts of political parties. In Germany, in the mid 19th century, parties emerged around those that supported different classes and the role of the central government that emerged later in the 19th century. In France, one of the legacies is the concept of left- versus right-wing political parties. The concept of left and right being political philosophies were developed in the French Revolution, when members of the National Assembly in the 1789 sat on the right or left. The monarchists and eventually constitution supporters were on the right and the more "innovators" in government ideas and concepts sat on the left. This continued into the Legislative Assembly in 1791, when also the concept of "centrist" emerged for those who sat in the middle supporting some measures of a strong constitutional form of government and also ideals that led to more individual freedoms.<ref>For more on how the French Revolution influenced political party development and European politics, see: Klaits, J., Haltzel, M. H., Wilson Center, & Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Eds.). (2002).<i> The global ramifications of the French Revolution </i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. </ref>

In the United States, the modern political parties first emerged in 1828 with the founding of the Democratic Party, which is now considered the world's oldest living voter-based party. The Republican Party was founded in 1854. The issues these parties support have varied drastically, but initially the Democratic Party was most associated with defending slavery, as many of its early members derived from the Democratic-Republicans who supported state rights. The Republican party emerged, in part, as it opposed slavery and became strong in the northern states.<ref>For more on the emergence of the modern political parties in the United States, see: Berkin, C. (Ed.). (2012). <i>Making America: a history of the United States </i> (6th ed). Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. </ref>