ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Bizarre Political Parties in U.S. History

Updated on January 21, 2013
"Know Nothing" Party artwork representing their concept of an ideal citizen.
"Know Nothing" Party artwork representing their concept of an ideal citizen.

There have been many political parties in American history, but only a select few have made a significant impact. Here is a sample of the myriad of unusual and obscure political parties in U.S. history, both past and present . All of these political parties have run candidates for office, although not necessarily for president. They are in no particular order.





A cannabis legalization march in 2001
A cannabis legalization march in 2001 | Source

U.S. Marijuana Party

One of two currently active parties on this list, the Marijuana Party obviously advocates for the legalization of cannabis use. They argue that cannabis is less dangerous than alcohol and nicotine. Since those two substances are legal, they believe pot should be too. They may have a point (I don’t know enough about narcotics to have an opinion), but they make this list for being a single-issue party devoted to a very minor political issue. Why aren’t their single-issue parties devoted to economic growth, health care, education, etc.? The U.S. Marijuana Party has run candidates for state-wide office, but so far they do not seem to have a 2012 presidential candidate. They espouse views that generally correspond with those of the more well-known Libertarian Party.

1892 Prohibition Party Convention
1892 Prohibition Party Convention

Prohibition Party

The oldest and most durable party on this list, the Prohibition Party (as its name suggests) advocates for the criminalization of all alcoholic beverages. It also wants stronger reinforcement of laws against other drugs. I bet a debate between these folks and the Marijuana Party would be entertaining! This remarkably resilient party has nominated a presidential candidate every cycle since 1872, including this year, although their 2008 candidate received only a few hundred votes nationwide. By comparison, their 1904 candidate received over 250,000 votes despite a much smaller voting pool. They are the oldest third party in U.S. history.

John Hagelin
John Hagelin | Source

Natural Law Party

This party believed that transcendental meditation was the key to solving the country’s problems. They advocated government subsidization of expert meditators to teach people their techniques. This “New Age” party ran physicist John Hagelin for president in 1992, 1996, and 2000. He failed to make a significant electoral dent and the party gradually faded away, although a tiny splinter group still endures in Michigan.

Anti-Masonic symbol
Anti-Masonic symbol | Source

Anti-Masonic Party

Yet another single issue party, the Anti-Masons believed the organization known as the Free Masons (which still exists today) were a secret society aiming to take over the country and eliminate its democratic principles. Ironically, many of the founding fathers themselves had been Free Masons, including George Washington. The party existed during the 1830’s. They won two gubernatorial elections (in Vermont and Pennsylvania) and ran a candidate for president in 1836. The Anti-Masons were later absorbed by the Whig Party.

Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore

Know Nothing Party

Officially named the American Party, the Know Nothings were essentially a glorified hate group that were politically relevant in the mid-19th century. They were xenophobes who wanted to restrict immigration, especially from countries with large Catholic populations like Germany and Ireland. They believed that only white male Protestants should be able to run for office. The party was very controversial even by 1850’s standards. Future president Abraham Lincoln was one of many who were disgusted by them. They ran former president Millard Fillmore as their presidential nominee in 1856. He captured one state (Maryland) but failed to seriously complete. The party had dissolved by the 1860’s. The Know Nothings are the least unusual party on this list, however, as many other political parties have adopted their basic ideology over the last 150 years.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)