Whig party (United States)
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Whig Party
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|---|---|
| Historical leaders |
Henry Clay Daniel Webster |
| Founded | 1833 |
| Dissolved | 1854 |
| Merger of |
National Republican Party Anti-Masonic Party |
| Succeeded by |
Know Nothing Party Republican Party Opposition Party (Opposition to Slavery) Opposition Party (Opposition to Secession) |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Newspaper | The American Review: A Whig Journal |
| Ideology | American System (economic plan) Protectionism Non-interventionism |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colors | Blue and buff |
The Whig Party was a political party active in the middle of the 19th century in the United States. Four US presidents belonged to the party while in office. It emerged in the 1830s as the immediate successor to the National Republican and Anti-Masonic Parties, and was also rooted in the tradition of the Federalist Party. Along with the rival Democratic Party, it was central to the Second Party System from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s. It originally formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson (in office 1829–37) and his Democratic Party. In particular, the Whigs supported the supremacy of the US Congress over the Presidency and favored a program of modernization, banking and economic protectionism to stimulate manufacturing. It appealed to entrepreneurs, planters, reformers and the emerging urban middle class, but had little appeal to farmers or unskilled workers. It included many active Protestants, and voiced a moralistic opposition to the Jacksonian Indian removal. Party founders chose the "Whig" name to echo the American Whigs of the 18th century who fought for independence. The underlying political philosophy of the American Whig Party was not directly related to the British Whig party. Historian Frank Towers has specified a deep ideological divide:
Democrats stood for the 'sovereignty of the people' as expressed in popular demonstrations, constitutional conventions, and majority rule as a general principle of governing, whereas Whigs advocated the rule of law, written and unchanging constitutions, and protections for minority interests against majority tyranny.
The Whig Party nominated several presidential candidates in 1836. General William Henry Harrison of Ohio was nominated in 1840, former Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky in 1844, and General Zachary Taylor of Louisiana in 1848. Another war hero, General Winfield Scott of New Jersey was the Whig Party's last presidential nominee, in 1852. In its two decades of existence, the Whig Party had two of its candidates, Harrison and Taylor, elected president. Both died in office. John Tyler succeeded to the presidency after Harrison's death in 1841, but was expelled from the party later that year. Millard Fillmore, who became president after Taylor's death in 1850, was the last Whig president.
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