With all this news about Tea Parties, I checked them out and, behold, they've been around since the founding of the country. "The Age of Federalism" (Elkins and McKittrick, Oxford Press, 1993) devotes an entire chapter to them. They existed before we had political parties as we know them. When George Washington was president he hated them. They were "divisive." Washington wanted us to be one big, happy family. No parties.
By 1798 there were about 30 of them and they called themselves "democratic societies" but weren't the predecessors of our present Democratic Party. They claimed not to be political parties, had little organization, didn't raise money and didn't endorse candidates, but their leaders were politically active.
Some helped organize the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. Farmers there objected to Washington's tax on whiskey and treated tax collectors very roughly and threatened military action, but they did nothing more when Washington ordered the militia to march out there. The farmers then paid the tax quietly.
In a few years the societies disappeared, but over the years various organizations like them appeared; some became political parties (e.g. the abolitionist movement to the Republican Party). We'll watch and see what happens to these Tea Party folks.
Leo McDonnell
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Duluth
