Bourbon Democrats

(noun)

Bourbon Democrat was a term used in the United States from 1876 to 1904 to refer to a member of the Democratic Party, conservative or classical liberal, especially one who supported Charles O'Conor in 1872, Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, President Grover Cleveland in 1884–1888/1892–1896, and Alton B. Parker in 1904. After 1904, the Bourbons faded away.

Related Terms

Examples of Bourbon Democrats in the following topics:

  • Depression Politics

    • The main issues revolved around the severe economic depression, which the Republicans blamed on the conservative Bourbon Democrats led by Cleveland.
    • The delegates at the 1896 Democratic National Convention quickly turned against the policies of Grover Cleveland and those advocated by the Bourbon Democrats, favoring bimetallism as a way out of the depression.
    • Nebraska congressman William Jennings Bryan now took the stage as the great opponent of the Bourbon Democrats.
    • Most Bourbons returned to the Democratic party by 1900 or 1904 at the latest.
    • Bryan demonstrated his hold on the party by winning the 1900 and 1908 Democratic nominations as well; in 1904, a Bourbon, Alton B.

  • The Bourbons and the Redeemers

    • Redeemers were the southern wing of Bourbon Democrats—the conservative, pro-business wing of the Democratic Party during Reconstruction.
    • Bourbon Democrat was a term used in the United States from 1876 to 1904 to refer to a member of the Democratic Party, conservative or classical liberal—especially one who supported Charles O'Conor in 1872, Samuel J.
    • Woodrow Wilson, who had been a Bourbon, made a deal in 1912 with the Bourbon's leading opponent, William Jennings Bryan; Bryan endorsed Wilson for the Democratic nomination, and Wilson named Bryan Secretary of State.
    • Bourbon Democrats were promoters of capitalism and opposed to the protectionism that the Republicans were then advocating.
    • Redeemers were the southern wing of the Bourbon Democrats—the conservative, pro-business faction in the Democratic Party who sought to oust the Republican coalition of freedmen, carpetbaggers, and scalawags.

  • Politics in the Gilded Age

    • Gilded Age politics were characterized by intense competition between Republicans and Democrats and much demographic change.
    • Accordingly, there were widespread calls for reform, such as the Civil Service Reform led by the Bourbon Democrats and Republican Mugwumps.
    • In 1884, the Democrats won their first national victory since 1856 with the election of Democrat Grover Cleveland to the presidency.
    • The Bourbon Democrats supported a free-market policy, with low tariffs, low taxes, less spending, and in general, a laissez-faire (hands-off) government.
    • Demographic trends boosted the Democrats' totals, as the German and Irish Catholic immigrants had become Democrats and outnumbered the English and Scandinavian Republicans.

  • The Debate over American Imperialism

    • Journalist Ashley Smith divides theories of the U.S. imperialism into five broad categories: (1) "Liberal" theories, (2) "social-democratic" theories, (3) "Leninist" theories, (4) theories of "super-imperialism," and (5) "Hardt-and-Negri-ite" theories.
    • A "social-democratic" theory says that imperialistic U.S. policies are the products of the excessive influence of certain sectors of U.S. business and government—the arms industry in alliance with military and political bureaucracies and sometimes other industries such as oil and finance, a combination often referred to as the "military-industrial complex. " The complex is said to benefit from war profiteering and the looting of natural resources, often at the expense of the public interest.
    • Many of the League's leaders were classical liberals and "Bourbon Democrats" (Grover Cleveland Democrats) who believed in free trade, a gold standard, and limited government; they opposed William Jennings Bryan's candidacy in the 1896 presidential election.
    • Instead of voting for protectionist Republican William McKinley, however, many, including Edward Atkinson, Moorfield Storey, and Grover Cleveland, cast their ballots for the National Democratic Party presidential ticket of John M.

  • Social Darwinism in America

    • For example, The Bourbon Democrats supported a free-market policy, with low tariffs, low taxes, less spending and, in general, a laissez-faire government.

  • Clinton's Promise of Change

    • Bill Clinton epitomized the New Democrat ideology with his focus on improving the economy and economic deregulation.
    • Bill Clinton was the single Democratic politician of the 1990s most identified with the New Democrats.
    • New Democrat and Third Way successes under Clinton, as well as the writings of Anthony Giddens, are often regarded to have inspired Tony Blair in the United Kingdom and his policies.
    • The New Democrats were more open to deregulation than the previous Democratic leadership had been.
    • The New Democrats and allies on the Democratic Leadership Conference were responsible for the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

  • The "Reign of Witches"

    • The "Reign of Witches" was a descriptive catchphrase used by Democratic-Republicans to criticize the Federalist Alien and Sedition Acts.
    • "The Reign of Witches" is a termed used by Democrat-Republicans to describe the Federalist party and John Adams after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
    • This legislation, Jeffersonian democrats argued, proved that Federalists were intent on establishing a tyrannical, aristocratic government and would silence the opposition through political persecution.
    • They were signed into law by President John Adams and were intended as a direct political attack on the Democrat-Republicans.
    • The Federalist-dominated Congress believed that Democrat-Republicans, fueled by the French and French-sympathizing immigrants, posed a subversive threat to the United States.

  • Jackson and the Democratic Party

    • The modern Democratic Party arose in the 1830s out of factions from the largely disbanded Democratic-Republican Party.
    • The modern Democratic Party was formed in the 1830s from former factions of the Democratic-Republican Party, which had largely collapsed by 1824.
    • Both Democrats and Whigs were divided on the issue of slavery.
    • The Democrats later got the presidency back in 1844 with James K.
    • Describe the key moments in the development of the Democratic Party

  • The People's Party and the Election of 1896

    • Some people—mostly Democrats—joined the far-left Populist Party.
    • Teller; he was immediately seen as a possible candidate for the Democratic nomination.
    • The 1896 Democratic convention opened at the Chicago Coliseum on July 7, 1896.
    • Silver forces were supported by the Democratic National Bimetallic Committee, the umbrella group formed in 1895 to support silver Democrats in their insurgency against Cleveland.
    • 1896 Democratic Convention where Bryan delivered his famous "Cross of Gold" speech.

  • Whigs and Democrats

    • The more conservative Southern Democrats such as John C.
    • Many Northern, antislavery Democrats flocked to the Free-Soil coalition and joined Northern Whigs to form the Republican Party, whereas Southern, proslavery Democrats coalesced to form the Southern Democratic Party.
    • The result of this sharp sectional split within the Democratic Party was that Democrats were unable to mobilize an effective, united political platform in order to prevent the Republicans from achieving a majority in the electoral college.
    • President Andrew Jackson was hailed as the founder of the Democratic Party.
    • Examine the points of contention within the Whig and Democratic Parties