figures, divide the party history given in the Diagram into Administration epochs.
Arranged between the Administration-epoch lines, along the lower edge of this folding chart, will be found the names of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, with the number of electoral and popular votes by them severally received; also, the political complexions of the two Houses of Congress.
At the back of this work, as has been stated, will be found an outline history of the
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
At the left is an analysis, giving its divisions and subdivisions. To the right of this is a classification of the administrations from the time of Washington to the present. The colors show the politics of each administration. But five parties have had control of the Federal government—the Federal, the Democratic-Republican, the Democratic, the Whig, and the modern Republican. The dates at the top show the beginning and close of the administrations. From these dates, vertical lines extend through the chart. The history of an administration is located between two lines. At the top of the space, included between two of these lines, is seen the name of a President, below which are Federal officers, consisting of his Cabinet, Judges of the Supreme Court, the Vice-President, and the Speaker of the House. The position which each officer occupied is shown by the analysis on the left. The time each official was in office is shown by the dates; for instance, John Marshall was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835. Below the list of government officials are given all the important congressional events that occurred during each administration.
Commencing with page 7 and ending with page 32 is a
“CONSPECTUS” OF POLITICAL HISTORY.
Here is shown, in concise and comprehensive paragraphs, arranged under Administration-headings, the history and status of each political party then in existence, with an explanation and discussion of concurrent party issues; the causes which led to their adoption; why new parties were formed or old ones revived, and why dissolved; the measures they supported and the political principles they espoused— thus furnishing a connected history of American political parties, from their rise to the present day.
The next subject-division is headed
PLATFORMS OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES.
This contains the resolutions and platforms of the political associations which have sprung up and flourished in this country, either in weakness or in strength, beginning with extracts from the celebrated and historical Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798, and ending with the party platforms of 1880. No other publication contains, in its entirety, this important political historical feature.
Next follow a series of
POLITICAL AND FISCAL MAPS AND PLATES,
Which contain a large amount of complementary information.
First, is a Political Map of the United States. If a District has a Republican representative in Congress, it is colored Red; if the representative is Democratic, the District is colored Yellow.
The next plate is a Fiscal Chart, showing the relative amount of the revenue, debt, and expenditures of the Federal government. The explanations below show what each color indicates. Bordering the diagram for Revenue are figures, giving for each year the amount of the revenue. This amount is represented to the eye by colors. Take, for example, the revenue for 1815. The revenue for that year was fifteen million seven hundred thousand dollars. Of this amount as much was from customs as the length of the yellow on the space for the year is to the full length of the space across the column. In like manner, the Expenditures are indicated to the eye. The central column shows most vividly the difference between the amount of the debt in the time of Jackson, and that which the government sustained at the close of the civil war.
The next plate gives the Politics of the States according to the politics of the Governors. This is made clear by the explanation attached below.
In like manner, another plate gives the Politics of the States according to their votes for President.
The other plates are interesting as matters of reference, et cetera.
The last map of this series shows the
ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY, AND ITS DISTRIBUTION AMONG POLITICAL DIVISIONS.
Bordering the Fiscal Chart will be found the full text of the
VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS OF 1798,
An extract from which is given on page 33. And on the sides of the next following plate is printed the full text of the
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS OF 1798.
The closing printed matter of this work is a
TABLE OF GOVERNORS,
Arranged under state headings, giving the names of the gubernatorial incumbents, and the dates of their office holding.
