The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
George Washington knew the animosity of party all too well. By the time that he finished his term as the first president of the United States, Washington had had more than his fill of vile attacks upon his person through the print media.
Washington had hoped that the infant USA would navigate a course between the two extremes of party, at that time called the Federalists (the mother of the Republican party) and the Republicans (the mother of the Democratic party). Yet he saw the rigid lines drawn between the Federalists and the Republicans and feared that they had become an institution in USA political life. And they had.
Why did we fail to maintain one party, instead opting for two major parties and a host of very small independent parties? What is it in human nature that drove us to create partisan stances with a clear line drawn in the sand?
It is all about human nature. That is, how we view human nature. No better way exists to understand the character of the Republican party and the Democratic party than to compare the founders of those parties, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
John Adams came from Boston, the home of Puritanism in the USA. His way of life kept much of the Puritan world view. By the way, the Puritans received a lot of bad press which the scholar Perry Miller went a long ways toward dispelling. Adams believed in the depraved nature of the human soul, that we have been afflicted with sin through the fall of Adam and Eve. Regardless of the sophistication of our education, we will never overcome the power of temptation to sin by reason alone. The grace of God, the holiness that comes from living a life of holiness, will alone preserve our souls.
Thomas Jefferson came from Charlottesville, about 130 miles from Jamestown, the birthplace of Virginia and the USA. Jefferson embodied the Virginia plantation slaveholder who cherished reason. He embodied the cruel dichotomy of espousing freedom and equality while holding men in slavery to work his fields, build his mansions, and father his children. Jefferson selectively chose which words he believed in the Bible, holding no place for sin and the depravity of the soul. Instead, all things could be achieved through reason and education.
There you have the basic, fundamental, difference between the Republican world view and the Democratic world view. The Republican world view embraces the Puritan belief in resisting temptation and sin through prayer, holiness, and hard work. The goal is to create the Holy Commonwealth of saints. The Democratic viewpoint uplifts reason as the means to salvation for the person and the human race. There is no human sin, no depravity of the soul. We achieve the New Jerusalem through freedom, equality, and reason.
The Republican and Democratic viewpoints each have their weaknesses. The Republican view, with it's belief in the will, can fall toward the sin of fascism. The tendency to see a race as supreme and a holy people chosen to rule the world. The Democratic viewpoint can, with it's belief in the power of reason, error towards utopianism and sexual immorality. The belief in the power of reason can lead to the practice of imposing a communistic rule over others and a naiveté about the power of passion to derail the reasonable person.
George Washington embodied the strengths and weaknesses of both the Republican and the Democratic parties. A pious Christian and a Mason, he believed in the depravity of the soul and the power of temptation. A Virginian, he embraced the Enlightenment's reverence of reason while owning a plantation with slaves forced to labor as chattel for him.
So, although Washington called for citizens of the USA to stand above party in his farewell address, he fell short of embodying a person neither Democrat nor Republican. What kind of person would that be?
They would embrace God as the creator, seek holiness in community, accept the depravity of the soul while embracing the power of reason. They would not draw lines between the races but see all people as their brothers and sisters. They would not see the USA as the supreme savior of the human race, commissioned to rule over them, but as a nation especially blessed with values, principles, and wealth to help the community of nations.
One concluding note on friendship between Republican and Democrat. In the later years of their lives, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson strengthened their relationship as dear and close friends.
Their exchange of letters is a treasure of profound thought and endearing sentiments. They died on
July 4, 1826, Adams on his farm near
Boston and Jefferson on his plantation near
Charlottesville, each asking about the other with their dying breath. In the end, one in love and respect, true patriots both.
