Government:

I think that many people blame an insidious minority for producing a large government. I do not see it that way. There were four major factors since 1790 which caused the Federal Government to grow in size and power. The first was the Civil War and the growing opposition to slavery. This resulted in the Reconstruction Amendments to the Constitution (numbers 13, 14 and 15), pushed by Republicans, which greatly increased the power of the Federal Government. Then there was the Depression of the 1930s. Prior to that the Democratic Party was on its way to extinction, but as a result of the people wanting the Federal Government to help the 1932 election propelled the Democratic Party to a position of dominance and because of what the people wanted the New Deal programs were implemented. World War II convinced people that the United States needed to be prepared to counter foreign enemies in particular dictators and this resulted in a growth in military spending and an increase in the size of the Federal Government. Fourth was the Civil Rights movement which lead to the Civil Rights legislation of the post World War II period. By the way Republican elected officials were more likely to vote for the Civil Rights Act than were Democratic elected officials. So, the growth of the Federal Government was due to people’s growing opposition to slavery, people wanting protection in case of economic catastrophe, people wanting protection from foreign dictators and people’s growing opposition to racism. Plus the Constitution itself represented an increase in the power of the federal government as compared to the Articles of Confederation.

Tom,