When America started were there always the Republican and Democratic parties?

Answer 1

No - the Republican party in its current form came into being during the 1850s and 60s - in fact, I think Lincoln was the first GOP president. The Democratic party came about earlier, but in the first half of the 19th century, you had your Whigs, your Democrates, and various other localized, specialized parties. National politics was not a big thing until communication methods (e.g. Telegraph, Railroads ,etc) made it possible to find out, if you cared, what some goomer in Maine felt about politics, compared to what you cared about in East Cowpatch, Missouri. Prior to that, politics in America was a much more localized function. When the Whig party lost it's power due to factionalism and a lack of direction, some members started an "American Party" - the birth of what we now call the Republican Party. They were rather dopey, blaming all the ills of the time on Catholics, immigrants, and women - in fact, some of their platform ideas in 1850 sound suspiciously like the GOP of 2008: - Severe limits on Immigration, especially from Catholic countries - Mandating a wait of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship - Mandating daily Bible readings in public schools and so on...Their nickname was the "Know-Nothing" party.