One of the more interesting innovations that Donald Trump has brought to modern presidential campaigns has been the party-like atmosphere of his Trump rallies. These rallies were in battleground states and areas, where Trump spoke for a few hours, oftentimes mixing political and policy issues with jokes and commentary on non-political affairs, with some music and a little dancing.
Then again, these types of political rallies are not totally new and unique to American politics. Political events with a party atmosphere have been around since the beginning of the Republic and before; in his elections to the Virginia House of Burgesses, George Washington himself paid for at least one raucous event on election day where he plied voters with alcoholic beverages and food.
But it was in 1840 when the real precursor to the modern-day Trump rallies first occurred. As…
