The Whig Party was created in 1834 by political opponents of President Jackson, who was a Democratic-Republican. The Whig Party was led by Henry Clay, who was famous for the American System and would also become commonly known as The Great Compromiser. Daniel Webster was another prominent individual of the Whig Party. Neither Clay nor Webster would become president, though. The Whigs opposed monarchy, which is why they were called the Whigs, as that was the English anti-monarchist party, and the Whigs referred to President Jackson as “King Andrew” to emphasize this idea.
Henry Clay and Daniel Webster
The Whig Party was similar to the old Federalist Party, for Whigs supported the Hamiltonian vision. Whigs also tended to be in favor of states’ rights. Jacksonian Democrats attempted to stigmatize the Whigs by associating the party with wealth and aristocracy, which was contradictory to Andrew Jackson’s appeal to the common American.
The Whigs had influence in the country in the presidential elections of 1836, 1840, and 1844; however, they proved to be unsuccessful politically overall. In the Election of 1836, Martin Van Buren became president, clearly defeating the three regional Whig candidates. In the Election of 1840, William Henry Harrison seemed to show that the Whigs had had success, but when he died in office after just one month, John Tyler took over and ultimately prevented the Whig Party’s agenda from proceeding, leading to the Whigs eventually disowning him. In the Election of 1844, Henry Clay was defeated by James K. Polk, despite a close popular vote. In the mid-1850s, the Whig Party collapsed, making evident its crucial inability to unify strongly enough behind a single candidate, as the party divided and failed to continue maintaining very effective influence by this time.
In particular, slavery ended up dividing the Whig Party in the 1850s. Jackson’s presidency had ended by this time, and a new Republican Party had been created. This new party would be joined by many anti-slavery Democrats, yet it also took numbers out of the Whig Party, contributing to the shift to the next party system in the United States.
A political cartoon attacking the Whig Party’s presidential candidate selection for the 1848 election
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Really helpful post! To add to the end of the Whig party, The deaths of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster really weakened the party. The Compromise of 1850 divided the Whigs on pro and antislavery members as well. Other, more moderate parties as well as the free soil party contributed to the fracturing of the Whigs, and eventually led to their collapse.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-can-collapse-whig-party-tell-us-about-todays-politics-180958729/