WHIG PARTY

The Whig party emerged as a coalition of politicians opposed to andrew jackson and Jacksonian Democracy. Some prominent Whigs, like daniel webster, traced their political roots to the old federalist party, while others, like henry clay, had been Jeffersonian Democrats. Most had also been National Republicans and, as such, supported the presidencies of james monroe and john quincy adams. When the Anti-Masonic party collapsed, most of its members became Whigs. Some extreme states ' rights southerners briefly affiliated with the Whigs in reaction to Jackson's heavy-handed response to South Carolina in the nullification controversy. A few Democrats joined the Whigs because they disagreed with Jackson over the bank of the united states or because they were disillusioned with Old Hickory's successor, martin van buren. In the 1850s the Whig party collapsed. Most northern Whigs joined the republican party, while southern Whigs became Know-Nothings or Democrats.

Whigs favored high tariffs, federally funded internal improvements, a national banking system, a relatively weak presidency, and deference to Supreme Court rulings on constitutional questions. In 1832 the Young Men's National Republican Convention, which nominated Henry Clay for President, resolved "that the Supreme Court of the United States is the only tribunal recognized by the constitution for deciding, in the last resort, all questions arising under the constitution and laws of the United States, and that, upon the preservation of the authority and jurisdiction of that court inviolate, depends the existence of the Union."

The Whig party avoided taking any position on slavery, seeking northern compromise on the issue in return for southern support for northern economic interests. Northern Whigs, like Daniel Webster, abraham lincoln, and william h. seward, opposed slavery with differing degrees of passion. In the 1830s some Whig congressmen, led by John Quincy Adams and Joshua Giddings, fought for the right to petition Congress on slavery. Adams viewed this as a constitutional right guaranteed by the petition clause of the first amendment. However, when Whigs controlled Congress and the White House in the early 1840s, they, too, adopted gag rules to prevent the reading of abolitionist petitions. Southern Whigs supported slavery, but they never supported southern extremists. Indeed, southern Whigs opposed states' rights, southern nationalism, and secession; however, in 1861 southern ex-Whigs, like alexander stephens, robert toombs, and Judah P. Benjamin, became confederate leaders.

Whigs from both sections opposed the annexation of texas, the Mexican War, and other aggressions of Manifest Destiny. During the Mexican War they argued that President james k. polk had exceeded his constitutional authority by sending troops into southern Texas and Mexico to provoke war.

The Whigs won only two presidential elections. General William Henry Harrison, elected in 1840, died a month after taking office and was succeeded by john tyler, a former states' rights Democrat who had little sympathy for many Whig positions. Under Tyler the Whigs passed a major but short-lived bankruptcy law and a higher tariff. President Tyler vetoed two Whig-sponsored bills to reestablish a national banking system.

In 1848 the Whigs captured the White House with another war hero, General zachary taylor, by avoiding taking a stand on any major issues. Whigs generally supported the compromise of 1850, which was passed as individual pieces of legislation and signed into law by the deceased Taylor's vice-president, millard fillmore, a moderate Whig from New York. By 1852, however, the party was deeply divided over the compromise and slavery in general. After 1850 the Whig party collapsed in the South, as southerners abandoned the party that appeared to be dominated by staunch antislavery men such as Senator William Seward of New York. After 1854 most northern Whigs also abandoned the party, either for the nativist American (Know-Nothing) party or the Republican party.

Constitutionally the Whigs stood for a strong Union and federal intervention in the economy. Whigs argued for a broad reading of federal power under the commerce clause and an expansive judicial power. Although neither was appointed by a Whig President, Justices joseph story and john mclean came to symbolize Whig views of the Constitution. The greatest symbol of the party's constitutional position was not, however, a judge, but the attorney and politician Daniel Webster.

Even before the Whig party was formed, Webster presented "Whig-like" arguments in the dartmouth college v. woodward (1819) and gibbons v. ogden (1824), in which he argued for a strict interpretation of the contract clause and a reading of the Constitution that gave Congress exclusive jurisdiction over interstate commerce. He made similar arguments in groves v. slaughter (1841), the license cases (1847), and the passenger cases (1849). The bedrock of Whig constitutional nationalism was best stated by Webster's 1830 reply to Senator robert young hayne's argument in favor of nullification and Webster's speech supporting the Compromise of 1850. In answering Hayne, Webster declared, "I go for the Constitution as it is, and for the Union as it is." Webster argued, "It is, sir, the people's Constitution, the people's government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people." He concluded with the ringing plea for "Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable." In his March 7, 1850, speech Webster supported the compromise measures, declaring, "I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American, and a member of the Senate of the United States." He told his colleagues, "I speak today for the preservation of the Union." These measures, introduced by the Whig Clay and supported by Webster, symbolize the constitutional principles of the Whigs—support for the Union and compromise above all else—and the reason for their collapse. By the mid-1850s, compromise based on blind fidelity to the Union was no longer possible in a nation torn by sectional strife and about to go to war over slavery. Significantly, perhaps, the last Whig President, Millard Fillmore, opposed secession but also opposed all of Lincoln's policies to stop secession. By this time, however, the supporters of Whig nationalism and constitutionalism had followed such Whigs as Seward and Lincoln into the Republican party.

Paul Finkelman
(1992)

Bibliography

Bartlett, Irving H. 1978 Daniel Webster. New York: Norton.

Mc Cormick, Richard P. 1966 The Second American Party System. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

Van Deusen, Glyndon G. 1973 The Whig Party. In Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., ed., History of U.S. Political Parties. Vol. 1, pages 332–493. New York: Chelsea House.