The U.S. political parties changed over time as the country progressed and modernized. Today the party’s are two big tents, but those tents looked different in each party system.

The articles below explain the many complex changes from 1776 to today.

A Summary of How the Major Parties Switched

Notable political factions, politicians, and platform planks switched between the major U.S. political parties throughout U.S. history leading to a number of complex changes. Here are some different ways to look at “the party switches” and different “party systems” the changes resulted in.