Whig

Examples of Whig in the following topics:

• Whigs and Democrats

  • The Whigs were unable to effectively address the slavery issue after 1850.
  • The election of 1852 marked the final collapse of the Whigs.
  • Southern Whigs generally supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act, while Northern Whigs remained strongly opposed to the expansion of slavery into the territories.
  • Other Whigs with xenophobic views joined the American Party.
  • "An Available Candidate: The One Qualification for a Whig President."

• The Election of 1852

  • The presidential election of 1852 was the last time the Whig Party nominated a candidate; the party collapsed shortly thereafter.
  • The election of 1852 was the last election in which the Whig Party nominated a candidate before the party collapsed following Winfield Scott’s loss to Franklin Pierce.
  • The 1852 Whig National Convention held in Baltimore was bitterly divided.
  • However, Northern Whigs resented the Compromise of 1850, believing that the bill favored the slaveholding South.
  • The outcome was a testament to the sectional and organizational weaknesses within the Whig Party.

• The Election of 1840

  • Rallying under the slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," the Whigs easily defeated Van Buren .
  • For the first time in their history, the Whigs held a national convention to determine their presidential candidate.
  • The convention came on the heels of a string of Whig electoral losses.
  • Because Harrison was considered a Northerner, the Whigs felt it politically expedient to balance the ticket with a Southerner.
  • Meanwhile, his Whig Party focused on attracting a broad political coalition rather than making ideological alliances.

• The Status of Women

  • Whig political theorists argued that men's independence, based on land ownership, freed them to vote, and because women were dependent on their husbands, sons, and fathers, they were unable to behave independently in the political and economic realms.
  • The ideal Whig woman would help the patriotic cause from inside her separate sphere, engaging in domestic chores and preparing to educate the next generation according to the values espoused by the men who fought for independence .
  • This poster calls for Whig men to fight for their freedom.

• Jackson and the Democratic Party

  • The spirit of Jacksonian democracy animated the party from the early 1830s to the 1850s, shaping the Second Party System, with the Whig Party serving as the main opposition.
  • Democrats opposed elitism and aristocrats, the Bank of the United States, and the Whigs' modernizing programs that would build up industry at the expense of the yeoman or small farmer.
  • Both Democrats and Whigs were divided on the issue of slavery.
  • Most Whigs, including Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln, strongly opposed the war.
  • The Democratic National Committee (DNC) was created in 1848 at the convention that nominated General Lewis Cass as a candidate to the presidency (he lost to General Zachary Taylor of the Whigs).

• The Rise of the Republican Party

  • The Republican Party was formed out of a loose coalition of Northern ex-Whigs who resented Southern political power.
  • Following the collapse of the Whigs during the election of 1852, a major realignment of the American political party system occurred with former Whigs splintering into various political factions.
  • Explain why the Republican Party emerged after the collapse of the Whig Party

• The Second Party System

  • The Second Party System, consisting largely of the Democrats and Whigs, contributed to rising levels of voter investment and partisanship.
  • The major parties during this time included the Democratic Party, led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, assembled by Henry Clay from the National Republicans and other opponents of Jackson.
  • Prominent Whig politicians included Daniel Webster, William H.
  • The Whig Party operated from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s and was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party.
  • In particular, the Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the presidency and favored a program of modernization and economic protectionism.

• The Democratization of the Political Arena

  • Jackson's supporters began to form the modern Democratic Party; they fought the rival Adams and anti-Jacksonian factions, which soon emerged as the Whigs.
  • The Whigs were the inheritors of Jeffersonian Democracy, in terms of promoting schools and colleges.
  • There was usually a consensus among both Jacksonians and Whigs that battles over slavery should be avoided.
  • The Whigs generally opposed manifest destiny and expansion, saying the nation should build up its cities.
  • Laissez-Faire Economics: Complementing a strict construction of the Constitution, the Jacksonians generally favored a hands-off approach to the economy, as opposed to the Whig program sponsoring modernization, railroads, banking, and economic growth.

• Political Participation and Party Loyalty

  • The Whigs and Republicans were especially effective in winning support among pietistic and evangelical denominations.
  • The Whigs and Republicans aggressively favored modernizing the economy, supporting banks, railroads, factories, and tariffs, and promised a rich home market in the cities for farm products.
  • The Whigs always opposed expansion, as did the Republicans until 1898.

• The Spread of Democracy

  • Jackson's supporters began to form the modern Democratic Party and fought the rival Adams and Anti-Jacksonian factions, which soon emerged as the Whigs.
  • The Whigs became the inheritors of Jeffersonian Democracy in terms of promoting schools and colleges.
  • Nonetheless, there was usually a consensus among both Jacksonians and Whigs that battles over slavery should be avoided.