Discussion Board
Instructions: You must post to one other student on the discussion topic.. You cannot simply say "I agree" or "good job" in your responses, and they must well thought out replies in complete sentences. Your classmate response must be 150 words with still following the guidelines. All post must be completed with citations and references.
TOPIC: Why were political parties viewed as so dangerous by the Founding Fathers? Why did parties come into being at all, and why did they come to be accepted as legitimate ways to express political disagreement? Do you see them as a positive or negative force in American politics?
CLASSMATE RESPONSE: The Founding Fathers viewed political parties dangerous because they felt the greed of power would lead to disloyalty to the government. Political parties were a result of the disagreement of Jefferson and Hamilton's feud. They had different opinions on how the country should be run. Having the two parties definitely helps with the country's not being ruled by one voice or one person. I think it's great we have a country where we can voice our opinions but it still seems like our voices are not heard sometimes. I feel that sometimes our elected officials do not have the best interests of the common people at heart. I believe that our Founding Fathers didn't want this to happen either. America is ran differently from then, I feel we have gotten away from what the Founding Fathers set forward in hopes of a better world. I do believe America would have not made it this far without the political parties. With that being said, I am grateful to be an American where I can have the freedom to at least voice my opinion.
Reference
Kennedy, D. M., Cohen, L., & Piehl, M. (2012). The brief American pageant a history of the republic. Boston: Wadsworth.
Kennedy et al, The Brief American Pageant, Vol. I: to 1877 (Wadsworth/Cengage, 2012) 8th ed.
Binder and Reimers, editors, The Way We Lived: Essays and Documents in American Social History, Vol. I: 1492-1877 (Wadsworth/Cengage, 2008), 7th ed.