The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.
Democratic party
A political party that arose in the 1820s from a split in the Democratic-Republican party. Andrew Jackson was the first president elected from the Democratic party. The other Democratic presidents elected before the Civil War were Martin Van Buren, James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan. The party generally opposed the national bank, high protective tariffs, interference with slavery, and federal aid for internal improvements in the nation—all measures that the Whigs came to favor. The Democrats’ greatest strength was with farmers, laborers, and people of the frontier.
