European interest in the presidential elections in the United States is enormous. The interest in European ´presidential´ elections is relatively modest in the United States, however (and in Europe, almost a non-issue, except for the self-proclaimed Spitzenkandidaten).
From 1760 to 1815, Americans were intensely interested in political developments in Europe; however. Trans-Atlantic relations assumed an importance that should not be replicated until 1941 and afterwards, during the Cold War.
Once the former British colony had won its independence and sovereignty as a new nation between 1763 (with the conclusion of the European Seven Years War and the defeat of the French in North America) and 1788 (with the ratification of the American Constitution), the government and president faced fundamental challenges from the European continent.
The European continent strongly influenced the outcome of the war of independence. About 30,000 German mercenaries served the British; thousands of French soldiers, including the famous French nobleman Lafayette, fought for the American cause.
The European involvement and subsequent revolutionary developments on the European continent, and the second war against Britain in 1812, decisively shaped American internal and external politics until 1941.
‘It is all about economy’ was already a common phrase when George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789. The (economic) differences between the Republicans and Democrats emerged.
The Republicans, led by Jefferson, argued that the government should not interfere in the economy, promote manufacturing, and advocate free trade and political decentralisation.
The ‘Federalists’, the predecessors of the Democrats, promoted government intervention and a strong central government. The Federalists were strong in the (east) coastal towns and the northeast of the country. The Republicans appealed to large and small farmers and not to urban areas.
The political landscape was the most democratic the world had seen so far, and the presidential election campaigns of 1796 and 1800 were unique in political history. There were, of course, limits. Native Americans, black Americans and women did not take part and were largely excluded from the rights of citizenship.
The election campaigns, however, did not differ from present-day elections. They were about a peaceful transfer of power. Such an outcome was not inevitable, given the revolutionary, political instability, terror, and (civil) war in Europe at the time.
The elections gave American voters an ideological choice. The political press participated from the very beginning. Extreme partisanship characterised American journalism, and Federal and Republican editors delighted in excoriating and impugning their political rivals’ motives.
In 1789, judgments based on the new Constitution already addressed cases of satire, insults, and other alleged politically motivated wrongdoings.
The role of media, the judiciary, and political campaigns was crucial in raising awareness among voters. It contributed to the firmly established commitment of voters, volunteers, party awareness and democratic political practices.
The first democratic revolution took place in America and not in Europe. The American filmmaker David Wark Griffith issued on 3 March 1915 a new genre, the historical movie ’The Birth of a Nation’. He dealt with a highly sensitive issue, the American Civil War, the American Presidency and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1864.
The deep divisions between South and North, Democrats and Republicans, agrarian and urban societies, black and white came to life in this movie. Nothing new in 2017. After all, American culture was not immune to human deficiencies, mistakes and violence. Even the American Constitution, the oldest in the world, could not change mankind.
For a superpower, however, the democratic accomplishments are unique in their sustainability, transparency, system of checks and balances, and, above all, the citizens’ commitment.
(Source: F. D. Cogliano, Revolutionary America 1763-1815 (New York, 2000).