Puritans as democrats

[darklordoftech]

I’m curious as to whether or not any of the political parties that do or ever have existed (whether it be today’s Democrats and GOP, those of 1860, or the Federalists and Dem-Republicans of 1796) are descended from the Puritans or if the Puritans have nothing to do with the politics of later eras. I wonder what Southern Senator’s take on the Puritans is.

[darklordoftech]

I find the parallels between Bryan and Sanders fascinating, from their appeal to a debtor demographic to their fights with the “establishment”. In Bryan’s time there were “Bourbon Democrats” and in Sanders’ time there are “neoliberals”. There’s also the Gilded Age parallels such as income inequality and debates over immigration and prohibition.

[darklordoftech]

Keep in mind that voting for the more liberal party doesn’t mean that one is more liberal on all issues. The Democratic-Republicans may have been better for voting rights than the Federalists, but that doesn’t mean that the South was better for voting rights than New England. Today, there’s plenty of pro-life Democratic voters and pro-choice Republican voters.

[darklordoftech]

I’m curious as to whether or not any of the political parties that do or ever have existed (whether it be today’s Democrats and GOP, those of 1860, or the Federalists and Dem-Republicans of 1796) are descended from the Puritans or if the Puritans have nothing to do with the politics of later eras. I wonder what Southern Senator’s take on the Puritans is.

The first thing you have to answer is what do you mean by "puritans". Is that restricted the types of people who arrived in 1621 or is that inclusive of pious New England protestants down through to the late 19th and early 20th century.

The former.

[darklordoftech]

Just because a region or demographic votes for a certain party doesn’t mean that the party fits everything about that region/demographic. The Southern elite didn’t vote Democratic-Republican because they wanted to enfranchise poor people, but rather because they saw tariffs as a threat to their cash crop economy.