Political Parties

The more I read BCOF the more I find that I don't know. For example, I never knew the history of how the different political parties came into being. I was even more fascinated at how the parties were “adopted” by different religious organizations and immigrants from different countries. I’ve been wondering about the state of our political parties today. It makes one wonder if the same thing could happen today that happened in 1850. This quote from p. 33 gives reason for concern: “But because of the Whiggish overtones of nativism, it cemented the Democratic allegiance of Catholic immigrants more firmly than ever. Political nativism would explode even more destructively in the 1850s, when it contributed to the breakdown of the two-party system that preceded the Civil War.” I sometimes wonder what the “Tea Party” movement is doing today. Is it more of a divisive trend? Or is it bringing the country together?