gop stands for limiting government control

The labels “grand old party” or the “ gallant old party” were meant to highlight the Republican Party’s role in defending the Union during the Civil War. The party picked up the Grand Old Party label in the 1880s. Lincoln and his early Republicans expanded federal power in ways that are pretty, well, un-Republican today: new federal taxes to fund the creation of a nationalized bank system, a nationalized railroad, high import tariffs, and the state university system. Their second presidential candidate (in 1860) turned out to be a home run: Abraham Lincoln. They particularly opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, a Democrat-supported effort that would have allowed slavery to expand into new territories. In the 1850s, the Republican Party united former Whigs and Democrats, pro-business economic modernizers, and northern abolitionists under one umbrella. B oth these terms ultimately derive from the Latin rēs pūblica, constructed from rēs (“thing or entity”) and pūblica (“public”).

Republican is first recorded in English around 1685–95 and stems from the French républicain. The word republican means “of, relating to, or of the nature of a republic.” A republic is a government system in which power rests with voting citizens who directly or indirectly choose representatives to exercise political power on their behalf. (The Democratic Party took its name in 1844.) Where did this nickname come from and what in the world does it mean? What does republican mean?įirst off, a quick history of the party: Jefferson’s Democratic–Republican Party broke apart into factions in 1825, and the Republican Party officially adopted its name in 1854.

One unique part of the Republican Party’s history, however, is its nickname: the GOP. Who knew that these two opposing parties were once on the same side of the political spectrum? They both developed from the same political group, the Democratic–Republicans Party led by Thomas Jefferson in the 1790s and early 1800s. The origins of the Democratic and Republican parties tell an interesting story.

Gop stands for limiting government control