The Whig Party was formed in the 1830s to oppose the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Led by Henry Clay, the Whigs supported national economic programs like tariffs and internal improvements. Their first presidential victory came in 1840 with William Henry Harrison. However, the party increasingly fragmented over the issue of slavery's expansion. The death of party leaders Henry Clay and Daniel Webster in 1852, along with losing the presidential election that year, marked the dissolution of the Whig Party.
The Whig Party was formed in the 1830s to oppose the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Led by Henry Clay, the Whigs supported national economic programs like tariffs and internal improvements. Their first presidential victory came in 1840 with William Henry Harrison. However, the party increasingly fragmented over the issue of slavery's expansion. The death of party leaders Henry Clay and Daniel Webster in 1852, along with losing the presidential election that year, marked the dissolution of the Whig Party.
The Whig Party was formed in the 1830s to oppose the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Led by Henry Clay, the Whigs supported national economic programs like tariffs and internal improvements. Their first presidential victory came in 1840 with William Henry Harrison. However, the party increasingly fragmented over the issue of slavery's expansion. The death of party leaders Henry Clay and Daniel Webster in 1852, along with losing the presidential election that year, marked the dissolution of the Whig Party.
The Whig Party was formed in the 1830s to oppose the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Led by Henry Clay, the Whigs supported national economic programs like tariffs and internal improvements. Their first presidential victory came in 1840 with William Henry Harrison. However, the party increasingly fragmented over the issue of slavery's expansion. The death of party leaders Henry Clay and Daniel Webster in 1852, along with losing the presidential election that year, marked the dissolution of the Whig Party.
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The Whig Party
The Whig Party was formed simply to combat the rule of King Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson shook things up after he took office. He expanded the power of the executive branch by doing things like destroying the second national bank of the United States, sending troops to South Carolina during the nullification crisis, and voting nearly every bill that came across his desk. A group of Americans became more and more afraid of Jackson. They labeled him ‘King Andrew’ and called him a dangerous man on horseback. One of these critics of Jackson was a well-respected senator from Kentucky named Henry Clay. He decided Jackson’s opponents needed to organize against Jackson. And in 1831, he started planning a new political party. Clay and other political opponents called themselves ‘Whigs’. Henry Clay ran as a Whig in the 1832 presidential election against Andrew Jackson. But got his butt kicked in the election only getting 49 electoral votes to Jackson’s 219. Throughout the 1830s the Whig Party became more popular with many candidates winning national elections and becoming members of congress, though there were many factions or conflicts within a group. In 1840, William Henry Harrison became the first elected Whig president. They all tended to like Henry Clay’s American system and economic plan that had three main ideas. Have a high tariff to protect and promote American industry in the United States. Have a National Bank to encourage trade and to loan money to businesses. Federal handouts for roads, canals, and other big internal improvements to help to farm and to help the country grow and stay connected. The election of 1844 marked the beginning of the end of the Whig Party. They no longer had a majority in congress and the democrat Polk was successful. The Whigs lucked out in the election of 1848. Their presidential candidate, Zachary Taylor, was a hero of the Mexican-American war and he won the election. The compromise of 1850 deeply split northern and southern Whigs over the issue of the expansion of slavery out west. In July 1850, president Tylor died and his vice Millard Fillmore would become the fourth and final Whig president. During his presidency, new issues like dealing with the rising number of immigrants, problems with alcohol in society, and the growing number of abolitionists or people against slavery began to split up the Whig Party even further. The Whigs were never that united, to begin with. In 1852, two of the Whig’s greatest leaders Henry Clay and Daniel Webster both died. That year the Whigs nominated another Mexican-American war hero, popular General Winfield Scott. But Scott lost the election badly to Democrat Franklin Pierce. Then Whig representative Louis D Campbell of Ohio declared, “The party is dead”.
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