A New Birth of Freedom: What's in a Name?
1876 would prove a watershed moment in American history. The Republican Party had proved its utter dominance over US politics even in what ought to have been dire electoral circumstances. The Democrats have found themselves absolutely trounced by the Republicans and Liberals even in the Deep South where it was thought the party could hold on to power through a mix of agrarian populism and white supremacy. While Tilden managed to carry much of the former Confederacy, Senate and House elections resulted in victory only when a Democrat ran unopposed. The border states and several of the more pro-Union Southern states like Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana all went for the Liberals. The postwar order established during Reconstruction has resulted in the permanent empowerment of Black Americans who whole heartedly back the Party of Lincoln. Thanks to aggressive Federal enforcement and a sympathetic judiciary, every attempt by the White “Redeemers” to disenfranchise Black Americans, whether through legislation or violence, had been smashed by Washington.
Some blamed the nomination of Tilden, an urban Yankee with beliefs far closer to the Liberals than the agrarian base of the party. Others blamed the party’s embrace of former Confederates which undid whatever trust had been painstakingly regained with Northerners after the Civil War. Still others cited the fundamental contradiction embedded in the party’s leadership structure regardless of geography: that the supposed populist base of the Democrats was being led by the very elites they hated. In reality it was a combination of all these reasons and more that the Democrats are dying. They would cling on in 1878 but it was clear that the Republicans main opposition was the Liberals now, not the Democrats. Though it had taken longer to die than their old rivals the Whigs, ultimately the Party of Jackson proved itself as much a relic of the antebellum years. Amidst a chaotic party conference in 1879 in Baltimore where a populist coalition of laborers and farmers attempted to get the party to adopt an unabashedly inflationary and relief centric platform it all came crumbling down. Rather than seriously contend with this popular movement, the party elite locked them out and approved a pro-gold and fiscally conservative platform. This tactical victory proved a massive strategic blunder for the Democrats who underestimated just how much their base would follow this new generation of politicians rather than elite incumbents. In numerous local elections across 1879 and several special Congressional elections the Democrats saw huge defeats to former members who had defected and stood as independents.
With the party unraveling, more conservative Democrats bolted for the safety of the Liberals, the most shocking of which was the defections of Winfield Scott Hancock and Thomas Bayard. This was the deathknell of the Democrats. With two of the most prominent candidates for the nomination now in another party and Tilden declining to run due to health issues, what remained of the Democratic leadership cancelled their planned convention for 1880. With the end of the Grant Presidency on the horizon there is a new party ready to be birthed, a party dedicated whole heartedly to the interests of the little guy, an army to wage war on the robber barons in this Gilded Age. However every newborn needs a name and this party is no exception.
Voters will get to choose the name of the new party. For those who want to suggest their own name vote Draft and write the name below. If that name gets the more votes then the other options it will be the new name.
