At the end of the Age of Jefferson and the political domination of the Democratic-Republicans came to an end as the party began to break into internal factions over core party beliefs. Party leaders attempted to rally support around their causes, creating new political parties. The Whig Party emerged as one of the first opposition parties in the 1830s, running against the policies and proponents of the early Democratic party.
Whig Party: Overview
To understand the beliefs, leaders, and the rise and fall of the Whig Party, it is important to know how the party came to be.
The Whig Party: A political party in the mid-1800s that arose in opposition to Andrew Jackson’s Democratic party. Whig's political ideology focused on anti-Jackson, Economic Nationalism, the American System, and Parliamentarianism.
Fig. 1 Whig Party voting poster
The first significant step towards creating the Whig party was the division of the Democratic-Republicans during the election of 1828. Having run as a Democratic-Republican in 1824 and lost to John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson rallied support around his platform, creating the Democratic Party. Those Democratic-Republicans that remained loyal to Adams called themselves the National Republicans. In 1828, Jackson defeated Adams to become the 7th President of the United States. The table below highlights the core differences in their political ideologies:
Democrats (Jacksonians) | National Republicans |
Agrarianism Expansionism Expansion of voting rights (to European Americans) Patronage Opposition to the National Bank Limited government intervention in the economy.
| Protectionist Tariffs Promotion of economic development Government control of the economy to increase revenue opposition to Andrew Jackson's policies.
|
With their defeat to Jackson, the National Republicans began to dissolve. However, during Jackson’s first term as president, more issues arose that began to divide his support.
The Nullification Crisis
Fig. 2 President Andrew Jackson
During Jackson’s first term in office, he began to expand the power of the presidency by testing the system of checks and balances between the branches of government. These tendencies came to a head in his second term in 1832. In 1832, South Carolina passed legislation that “nullified” the Tariff of 1832- which placed a tax on all imported goods into the south. Jackson opposed the right of South Carolina to nullify the tariff, solidifying the divisions already existing within the new Democratic party.
Following the Nullification Crisis, influential South Carolinian politicians such as Daniel Webster began to oppose Jackson’s policies openly. Henry Clay, a former leader of the Democratic-Republicans and the National Republicans, rallied supporters from these groups with others who were beginning to be more anti-Jackson democrats.
Embracing the caricature of “King Andrew,” comparing Jackson to King George III, the new opposition to the Jacksonian Democrats called themselves The Whig Party.
Whig Party: Beliefs
The following table highlights the core political beliefs of the Whig Party.
Whig Party Beliefs |
Anti-Jacksonian: The most influential view that impacts all the other platform policies is opposition to most policies and practices of the presidency of Andrew Jackson. As an opposition party, the Whigs looked to block or proposed alternative policies to Jackson’s administration. |
Policy | What did it do? | How did it oppose Andrew Jackson? |
Economic Nationalism | An economic policy that favors the government's intervention for domestic control of the economy to achieve nationalist goals. | Jackson was firmly in favor of laisse-faire policies that removed any government intervention in the economy. Economic nationalism requires government intervention to control the revenue needed for government projects and policies. |
The American System | Connected to Economic Nationalism, the American system was a collection of economic policies that promoted industrial economic growth, protectionist tariffs, the expansion of the National Bank's powers and raise revenue to build infrastructures such as roads and canals. | As mentioned above, Jackson opposed any government interaction in the market and any expansion of federal power. The American system required federal government control to raise revenue for infrastructure projects and wanted to increase the power of the National Bank. |
Parliamentarianism | The political belief that the representative or legislative body of a government should and ought to be the most powerful entity in a government. | Jackson expanded the power of the presidency during his terms by ignoring Supreme Court orders, using executive orders, and the military to enact his policies if they did not have the support of Congress. |
Whig Party: Presidents
In their first run during a presidential campaign in 1836, the Whig Party ran William Henry Harrison against Democrat Martin Van Buren. Though they gained support, Van Buren won both the electoral and popular votes. Throughout Van Buren’s presidency, the Whig Party continued to oppose the Democratic platform and gain members leading into the election of 1840.
Whig Party Presidents |
President: | Term: | Important Facts: |
William Henry Harrison  Fig. 3 President William Henry Harrison
| 1841 | The first Whig President, Harrison defeated Van Buren on policies to restore the national bank, federal land distribution, and increased tariffs. Harrison’s Vice President was John Tyler Harrison died in office only a month into his presidency.
|
John Tyler  Fig. 4 President John Tyler
| 1841-1845 | Though he ran as a Whig, Tyler was sympathetic to many Democratic policies and supported those policies in congress. Tyler’s support of the Democrats led to his expulsion from the Whig Party and Henry Clay earning the nomination as Whig presidential candidate in 1844. Clay would lose to Democrat James Polk.
|
Zachary Taylor  Fig. 5 President Zachary Taylor
| 1849-1850 | Taylor rose to prominence as a General during the Mexican-American war during the Polk Administration. Taylor was sympathetic to Whig party views and won the nomination as president for the Whigs in 1848. His main political ambition was to reduce the sectionalism spreading across the country over the issue of slavery. Taylor died in office in 1850.
|
Millard Fillmore  Fig. 6 President Millard Fillmore
| 1850-1853 | Takes over the Presidency following Taylor’s death. Attempted to adopt policies from Taylor to ease tensions over slavery, such as the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act.
|
Whig Party: Collapse
The divisiveness of the issue of slavery in the 1850s led to the downfall of the Whig Party. Specifically, the fierce debates over the Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed slave territories to expand and divided traditional party loyalties. As political platforms changed and people sought new ideologies to align to, the Whig party nominated Fillmore in 1856 for president, losing to Democrat James Buchanan. During this election, disgruntled Whigs and those who opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act combined into the Republican Party that opposed any expansion of slavery.
By 1860, the Whig Party platform had been divided and absorbed by the Republican Party and a new party called the Constitutional Union Party. Many saw the Constitutional Union Party as a rebranded Whig party as their nominees for the 1860 presidential election; John Bell and Edward Everett were former Whig candidates. However, with the election of Abraham Lincoln as the Republican candidate, any semblance of the Whig party was divided between multiple political parties.
Whig Party: Significance
Due to their relative lack of success and longevity compared to their opposition Democratic Party, many have written off the importance of the Whig party and its policies. However, upon examination, the Whig Party played an important role in progressing the country out of old-fashioned ideas. Though the Democratic Party was better organized, history shows through the events and political ramifications of the Civil War that their policies could not last. The Whig platform's policies were more influential, just not at the right time. Policies of industrialization, urbanization, anti-slavery, infrastructure, and government intervention soon became core policies of the Democrat and Republican parties following the Civil War.
While the other parties had longevity, the Whig party moved the nation's political views to become a more progressive and continually improving country.
Whig Party - Key takeaways
- The Whig Party was a political party in the mid-1800s that arose in opposition to Andrew Jackson’s Democratic party. Whig's political ideology focused on anti-Jackson, Economic Nationalism, the American System, and Parliamentarianism.
- Following the Nullification Crisis, influential South Carolinian politicians such as Daniel Webster began to oppose Jackson’s policies openly. Henry Clay, a former leader of the Democratic-Republicans and the National Republicans, rallied supporters from these groups with others who were beginning to be more anti-Jackson democrats, calling themselves the Whig Party
- The Whig Party beliefs: Economic Nationalism, the American System, and Parliamentarianism.
- Whig Party Presidents: William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore
- The divisiveness of the issue of slavery in the 1850s led to the downfall of the Whig Party. Specifically, the fierce debates over the Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed slave territories to expand and divided traditional party loyalties.
- By 1860, the Whig Party platform had been divided and absorbed by the Republican Party and a new party called the Constitutional Union Party. Many saw the Constitutional Union Party as a rebranded Whig party as their nominees for the 1860 presidential election.
- While the other parties had longevity, the Whig party moved the nation's political views to become a more progressive and continually improving country.
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