Polarized Times: The Formation of the Whig Party
After the Federalist Party declined in strength in influence following the War of 1812, the Democratic-Republicans remained as the sole major party. The so-called "Era of Good Feelings" that marked the beginning of the President of James Monroe did not last long. After 1815, the Democratic-Republicans became increasingly polarized. The two competing groups were the nationalist wing, led by Henry Clay, and the Old Republicans. The former favored policies such as the Second Bank of the United States and the implementation of a protective tariff. The Old Republicans opposed these policies.
In the 1824 presidential election, the Democratic-Republican congressional nominating caucus nominated Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford for president, but Clay, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, and General Andrew Jackson all ignored the results of the caucus. Each were nominated by their regional factions as a presidential candidate. Crawford favored state sovereignty and a strict constructionist view of the Constitution. Calhoun (who ultimately dropped out of the race), Clay, and Adams all favored high tariffs and all supported the national bank. Jackson's appeal came from his military service, especially from his success as the commanding general at the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote in the 1824 election, but, with Clay's support, Adams was elected as president in a contingent election held in the House of Representatives.
In the years following the 1824 election, the Democratic-Republican Party became polarized, dividing into two groups. Supporters of President Adams and Henry Clay joined with many former Federalists such as Daniel Webster. Their alliance informally became known as the "Adams party". Supporters of Jackson, Calhoun, and Crawford, all southerners, joined together to oppose the Adams' nationalist agenda. They became informally known as "Jackonians".
Outside of New England, many of the Adams administration's allies defined themselves more so by their opposition to Jackson than in their support of Adams. But in the 1828 rematch between Jackson and Adams, Jackson emerged victorious, due in large measure to the superior organization and unity of his fledgling party. Jackson won 56 percent of the popular vote. With the defeat of Adams, Clay emerged as the leader of the National Republican Party, a political party whose main platform was its opposition to Jackson. Followers of Jackson, meanwhile, organized into the Democratic Party.
Despite Jackson's decisive victory in the 1828 election, National Republicans initially believed that Jackson's party would collapse once Jackson took office. For a time it looked like their prediction might come to pass. Vice President John C. Calhoun broke from the administration in 1831. But differences over the tariff prevented Calhoun's followers from joining Clay's National Republicans. Jackson's popularity grew in part due to a his position on a number of regional issues. These included his policy of Indian removal, the Maysville Road veto, his acceptance of tariffs and some federally-funded infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, another new political party, the Anti-Masonic Party formed following the disappearance and likely murder of William Morgan in 1826. Morgan, a resident of Batavia, New York, had announced his intention to publish a book exposing Freemasonry's secrets. He was arrested for non-payment of a loan and alleged theft of clothing, charges believed to have been falsified. Supporters secured his release, but Morgan was later re-arrested and charged with allegedly failing to pay a two dollar tavern bill. While the jailer was away, a group of men convinced the jailer's wife to release Morgan. Shortly afterwards, Morgan disappeared, and was believed to have been kidnapped and killed by Masons from western New York. The circumstances surrounding Morgan's disappearance and presumed murder sparked a public outcry and inspired Thurlow Weed, William Seward and others to form the new Anti-Masonic Party in opposition to President Andrew Jackson's Democrats. The party ran a presidential candidate in 1832 but was not much of a factor after 1835. The party tried to convince Henry Clay to join, but these efforts failed. This left the opposition to Jackson split among different leaders when the National Republicans nominated Clay for president in 1832.
Clay hoped to make the national bank a key issue of the 1832 election. The National Republicans convinced national bank president Nicholas Biddle to request an extension of the national bank's charter. Their strategy backfired when Jackson successfully spun his veto of the recharter as a victory for the people over an elitist institution. Jackson won another decisive victory in the 1832 presidential election, taking 55 percent of the national popular vote and 88 percent of the popular vote in the slave states south of Kentucky and Maryland. Clay's defeat encouraging those opposed to Jackson to seek to look for a more effective opposition party.
Shortly after Jackson's re-election, South Carolina passed a measure to "nullify" the Tariff of 1832. This led to what became known as the Nullification Crisis. Jackson strongly rejected the notion that John C. Calhoun's home state of South Carolina had the right to nullify federal law, specifically the tariff. Jackson threatened to lead an army into the state if Calhoun made good on his threat. Just when it appeared as if the matter might end up in a domestic military conflict, the crisis was resolved after Congress passed the Tariff of 1833.
The Nullification Crisis strengthened the anti-Jacksonian coalition that had emerged. Jackson's threats of force against South Carolina let to many in South Carolina and other states, forming small "Whig" parties. The Whig label was a throwback to the Whig Party in Great Britain and its anti-monarchist sentiment. The handle implicitly compared "King Andrew" to King George III, the King of Great Britain at the time of the American Revolution.
Jackson's decision to remove government deposits from the national bank caused further erosion among his supporters, including Daniel Webster. The removal of the deposits drew opposition from both pro-bank National Republicans as well as states' rights Southerners like Willie Person Mangum of North Carolina, who accused Jackson of acting contrary to the Constitution. In late 1833, Henry Clay began to hold a series of dinners with opposition leaders in order to settle on a candidate to oppose Martin Van Buren, the likely Democratic nominee in the 1836 presidential election. He was unsuccessful in getting Jackson's opponents to agree on a single presidential candidate, but the group did agree to coordinate Senate opposition to Jackson's initiatives. Clay and his allies effectively took control of the Senate in December 1833.
The National Republicans, including Clay and Webster, formed the basis of the Whig Party. Many Anti-Masons like William H. Seward of New York and Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania also joined. Several prominent Democrats defected to the Whigs, including Mangum, former Attorney General John Berrien, and John Tyler of Virginia. The Whig Party's first major action was to pass a motion of censure against Jackson for the removal of the national bank deposits. In doing so, the Whigs were able to shed the elitist image that had persistently hung on the National Republicans. Throughout 1834 and 1835, the Whigs successfully incorporated National Republican and Anti-Masonic state-level organizations and established new state party organizations in Southern states like North Carolina and Georgia.
Early successes in some of these states made many Whigs optimistic about their chances for victory in the 1836 Presidential election. But an improving economy helped Jackson's hand-picked successor Martin Van Buren. The Whigs also faced the difficulty of uniting former National Republicans, Anti-Masons, and states' rights Southerners around one candidate. This became less likely when Calhoun announced that he refused to support any candidate opposed to the doctrine of nullification. Party leaders were unable to organize a presidential nominating convention, and legislative caucuses in the states nominated regional candidates. Instead, the Whigs adopted a strategy of running multiple Whig candidates for president. The hope was that nominating multiple candidates would deny Van Buren a majority in the electoral college and force a contingent election in the House of Representatives, one some Whig candidate would surely win.
Northern Whigs put their support behind General William Henry Harrison, a former senator who had led U.S. forces in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe. Though he had not previously been affiliated with the National Republicans, Harrison indicated that he shared the party's opposition to Jackson's executive power and he favored federal investments in infrastructure. Daniel Webster remained in the race, but only as the Whig candidate in his home state of Massachusetts. Southern Whigs supported Senator Hugh Lawson White, a long-time Jackson ally who opposed Van Buren's candidacy. White and his followers helped grow the Whig party organizations throughout the South.
Ultimately, Van Buren won a majority of the electoral and popular vote in the 1836 election, but the Whigs improved on Clay's 1832 performance in the South and West. Harrison won Kentucky and several Northern states, White carried Tennessee and Georgia, Webster won his home state, and Willie Mangum won South Carolina's eleven electoral votes.
Shortly after Van Buren took office, an economic crisis known as the Panic of 1837 struck the nation. Land prices dropped sharply, industries laid off employees, and banks failed. It was the most severe recession in U.S. history until the Great Depression. Van Buren's economic response centered on establishing the Independent Treasury system, essentially a series of vaults that would hold government deposits. The fiscal crisis caused some Democrats who favored a more activist government to defect to the Whig Party. The Whigs experienced a series of electoral successes in 1837 and 1838. It was their hope that the party could win the upcoming 1840 presidential election. The campaign would be another polarized battle, and one of the most memorable campaigns up to its time.
In the 1824 presidential election, the Democratic-Republican congressional nominating caucus nominated Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford for president, but Clay, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, and General Andrew Jackson all ignored the results of the caucus. Each were nominated by their regional factions as a presidential candidate. Crawford favored state sovereignty and a strict constructionist view of the Constitution. Calhoun (who ultimately dropped out of the race), Clay, and Adams all favored high tariffs and all supported the national bank. Jackson's appeal came from his military service, especially from his success as the commanding general at the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote in the 1824 election, but, with Clay's support, Adams was elected as president in a contingent election held in the House of Representatives.
In the years following the 1824 election, the Democratic-Republican Party became polarized, dividing into two groups. Supporters of President Adams and Henry Clay joined with many former Federalists such as Daniel Webster. Their alliance informally became known as the "Adams party". Supporters of Jackson, Calhoun, and Crawford, all southerners, joined together to oppose the Adams' nationalist agenda. They became informally known as "Jackonians".
Outside of New England, many of the Adams administration's allies defined themselves more so by their opposition to Jackson than in their support of Adams. But in the 1828 rematch between Jackson and Adams, Jackson emerged victorious, due in large measure to the superior organization and unity of his fledgling party. Jackson won 56 percent of the popular vote. With the defeat of Adams, Clay emerged as the leader of the National Republican Party, a political party whose main platform was its opposition to Jackson. Followers of Jackson, meanwhile, organized into the Democratic Party.
Despite Jackson's decisive victory in the 1828 election, National Republicans initially believed that Jackson's party would collapse once Jackson took office. For a time it looked like their prediction might come to pass. Vice President John C. Calhoun broke from the administration in 1831. But differences over the tariff prevented Calhoun's followers from joining Clay's National Republicans. Jackson's popularity grew in part due to a his position on a number of regional issues. These included his policy of Indian removal, the Maysville Road veto, his acceptance of tariffs and some federally-funded infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, another new political party, the Anti-Masonic Party formed following the disappearance and likely murder of William Morgan in 1826. Morgan, a resident of Batavia, New York, had announced his intention to publish a book exposing Freemasonry's secrets. He was arrested for non-payment of a loan and alleged theft of clothing, charges believed to have been falsified. Supporters secured his release, but Morgan was later re-arrested and charged with allegedly failing to pay a two dollar tavern bill. While the jailer was away, a group of men convinced the jailer's wife to release Morgan. Shortly afterwards, Morgan disappeared, and was believed to have been kidnapped and killed by Masons from western New York. The circumstances surrounding Morgan's disappearance and presumed murder sparked a public outcry and inspired Thurlow Weed, William Seward and others to form the new Anti-Masonic Party in opposition to President Andrew Jackson's Democrats. The party ran a presidential candidate in 1832 but was not much of a factor after 1835. The party tried to convince Henry Clay to join, but these efforts failed. This left the opposition to Jackson split among different leaders when the National Republicans nominated Clay for president in 1832.
Clay hoped to make the national bank a key issue of the 1832 election. The National Republicans convinced national bank president Nicholas Biddle to request an extension of the national bank's charter. Their strategy backfired when Jackson successfully spun his veto of the recharter as a victory for the people over an elitist institution. Jackson won another decisive victory in the 1832 presidential election, taking 55 percent of the national popular vote and 88 percent of the popular vote in the slave states south of Kentucky and Maryland. Clay's defeat encouraging those opposed to Jackson to seek to look for a more effective opposition party.
Shortly after Jackson's re-election, South Carolina passed a measure to "nullify" the Tariff of 1832. This led to what became known as the Nullification Crisis. Jackson strongly rejected the notion that John C. Calhoun's home state of South Carolina had the right to nullify federal law, specifically the tariff. Jackson threatened to lead an army into the state if Calhoun made good on his threat. Just when it appeared as if the matter might end up in a domestic military conflict, the crisis was resolved after Congress passed the Tariff of 1833.
The Nullification Crisis strengthened the anti-Jacksonian coalition that had emerged. Jackson's threats of force against South Carolina let to many in South Carolina and other states, forming small "Whig" parties. The Whig label was a throwback to the Whig Party in Great Britain and its anti-monarchist sentiment. The handle implicitly compared "King Andrew" to King George III, the King of Great Britain at the time of the American Revolution.
Jackson's decision to remove government deposits from the national bank caused further erosion among his supporters, including Daniel Webster. The removal of the deposits drew opposition from both pro-bank National Republicans as well as states' rights Southerners like Willie Person Mangum of North Carolina, who accused Jackson of acting contrary to the Constitution. In late 1833, Henry Clay began to hold a series of dinners with opposition leaders in order to settle on a candidate to oppose Martin Van Buren, the likely Democratic nominee in the 1836 presidential election. He was unsuccessful in getting Jackson's opponents to agree on a single presidential candidate, but the group did agree to coordinate Senate opposition to Jackson's initiatives. Clay and his allies effectively took control of the Senate in December 1833.
The National Republicans, including Clay and Webster, formed the basis of the Whig Party. Many Anti-Masons like William H. Seward of New York and Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania also joined. Several prominent Democrats defected to the Whigs, including Mangum, former Attorney General John Berrien, and John Tyler of Virginia. The Whig Party's first major action was to pass a motion of censure against Jackson for the removal of the national bank deposits. In doing so, the Whigs were able to shed the elitist image that had persistently hung on the National Republicans. Throughout 1834 and 1835, the Whigs successfully incorporated National Republican and Anti-Masonic state-level organizations and established new state party organizations in Southern states like North Carolina and Georgia.
Early successes in some of these states made many Whigs optimistic about their chances for victory in the 1836 Presidential election. But an improving economy helped Jackson's hand-picked successor Martin Van Buren. The Whigs also faced the difficulty of uniting former National Republicans, Anti-Masons, and states' rights Southerners around one candidate. This became less likely when Calhoun announced that he refused to support any candidate opposed to the doctrine of nullification. Party leaders were unable to organize a presidential nominating convention, and legislative caucuses in the states nominated regional candidates. Instead, the Whigs adopted a strategy of running multiple Whig candidates for president. The hope was that nominating multiple candidates would deny Van Buren a majority in the electoral college and force a contingent election in the House of Representatives, one some Whig candidate would surely win.
Northern Whigs put their support behind General William Henry Harrison, a former senator who had led U.S. forces in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe. Though he had not previously been affiliated with the National Republicans, Harrison indicated that he shared the party's opposition to Jackson's executive power and he favored federal investments in infrastructure. Daniel Webster remained in the race, but only as the Whig candidate in his home state of Massachusetts. Southern Whigs supported Senator Hugh Lawson White, a long-time Jackson ally who opposed Van Buren's candidacy. White and his followers helped grow the Whig party organizations throughout the South.
Ultimately, Van Buren won a majority of the electoral and popular vote in the 1836 election, but the Whigs improved on Clay's 1832 performance in the South and West. Harrison won Kentucky and several Northern states, White carried Tennessee and Georgia, Webster won his home state, and Willie Mangum won South Carolina's eleven electoral votes.
Shortly after Van Buren took office, an economic crisis known as the Panic of 1837 struck the nation. Land prices dropped sharply, industries laid off employees, and banks failed. It was the most severe recession in U.S. history until the Great Depression. Van Buren's economic response centered on establishing the Independent Treasury system, essentially a series of vaults that would hold government deposits. The fiscal crisis caused some Democrats who favored a more activist government to defect to the Whig Party. The Whigs experienced a series of electoral successes in 1837 and 1838. It was their hope that the party could win the upcoming 1840 presidential election. The campaign would be another polarized battle, and one of the most memorable campaigns up to its time.