Lincoln and the Whig Party, Part 1

I. The First Party System


A. Articles of Confederation—the first system of government formed by the newly independent United States. This document was the first instrument of government that attempted to strike a balance between a central government strong enough to provide for the common defense, the promotion of commerce, and other desirable services that a large central government can provide, with the suspicion that a strong central government would trample individual liberties—or use too much tax money.

1. Most Political Power Vested in the States—when the articles were finally ratified in 1781—five years after the war with Great Britain started—most of the political power remained vested in the states, while the national government was limited in its power. The national government was responsible for the common defense, making treaties, coin money, establish a postal system, and manage relations with Native Americans. Congress, elected from the states annually, also served as final arbitrator in all disputes between the states

2. Systemic Weaknesses—this system proved to be unworkable, because the national government proved to have inadequate powers to compel the states to follow its edicts—particularly in matters of taxation, since the national government had little power to get the states to turn over the tax money they collected on the national government’s behalf. By 1786, this lead to calls to amend the Articles to give the national government greater powes

B. Creation of the Constitution—because of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, and because many political elites felt that the nation suffered from “too much democracy,” a convention was held (first in Annapolis, and then again in Philadelphia) to hammer out a newer document of governance.


1. Shay’s Rebellion—indicative of the unrest in the country, a number of “rebellions” took place as people protested the lack of specie in circulation, and their need to pay taxes in this hard currency. Armed farmers roamed the countryside in bands, closing local courts to prevent them from holding legal proceedings necessary to foreclose on farms for non-payment of debts (especially taxes)

2. The alarm raised by these protests fueled the need on the part of the ruling elites to tamp down on democracy; the new constitution kept a legislative body directly accountable to the people (the House of Representatives, directly elected by voters every two years, instead of annually). But then they created a bicameral legislature (two houses of governance), with the creation of the Senate, elected by the state legislatures and serving six year terms; a chief executive (heading the new executive branch), elected by the electoral college (proportioned by the popular vote), rather than direct election by the people; and finally, a non-elected judiciary branch, charged to act as final arbiter in disputes between states, persons of different states, and maritime cases—most significantly, they are not charged with determining the constitutionality of anything.

C. Constitutional Controversy—because the Constitutional Convention superceded their original charge—to seek changes to strengthen the Articles of Confederation—and because the changes proposed drastically altered the relationship of the national government—which for the first time can truly be called a “federal” government—opposition to the changes quickly sprang up. Defenders of the new constitution began calling themselves Federalists, which had initially been what their opponents had been calling themselves; the opposition thereafter was known as the “anti-federalists.”


1. Federalist Papers—now seen as a sacrosanct document laying out “the Founders” vision of how the government was to be constituted. At the time these documents were created, however, they were anonymous tracts that appeared in newspapers sympathetic to the Federalist viewpoint. We have since learned that three men were responsible for their creation—John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, with Hamilton and Madison writing many more than Jay, and with Madison writing the lion’s share between himself and Hamilton.

2. Federalism—argued for the need for a stronger national government; Federalists, in fact, made up the majority of the convention, and anti-federalist arguments had little effect. Many of the most respected names from the Revolutionary era supported—Hamilton, Franklin, and especially Washington—supported the Federalist side. That support, along with the promise to immediately pass ten amendments limiting the powers of the new federal government, led to the Federalist side prevailing after a bruising battle of ideas in the nation’s nascent press.

C. Emergence of Parties—nowhere in the Articles of Confederation, nor in the Constitution, are political parties mentioned; yet these organizations do arise very quickly to advocate for certain political positions.

1. George Washington—is the one person who stood above party, although his support for the Constitution usually ends in his being identified as a Federalist. As the father of his country, however, he stood above party—or “factional” as he would call it—disputes.

2. John Adams—was a much more divisive character. Adams won a close election over Thomas Jefferson in 1796, when Washington decided to not run for a third term. With Washington gone, the anti-federalist opposition felt more emboldened to attack the new president’s policies. Federalist, who still control government, pass the Anti-Sedition Law of 1798, essentially making it illegal to criticize the government

3. Thomas Jefferson—the anti-federalists rallied around Jefferson, who was ambassador to France during the controversy over the new Constitution; while Washington headed the government, Jefferson dared not criticize the government; with Washington out of the way, anti-federalism found a new, eloquent spokesman. They even come up with a new label for themselves, the Democratic-Republicans.

D. Death of the First Party System

1. Slow Death of the Federalist Party—after John Adams, the Federalist never again control the Executive branch of the government; after Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson were all Democratic-Republicans.


2. Hartford Convention—during the midst of the War of 1812, opposition to the policies of James Madison reached a fever pitch in New England and New York, where Federalist electoral strength was greatest. At the Hartford Convention in 1814, those states discussed secession; this rather treasonous action ended the influence of the Federalist Party, and left the Democratic-Republicans the only viable political party.

II. The Second Party System

A. “The Era of Good Feelings”—the old label given to the time period when there was only one political party, and therefore in theory no factional disputes to stir up opposition to the political direction the country was headed.

B. “Old Hickory”—Andrew Jackson emerged from the War of 1812 as a war hero. Jackson self-consciously promoted himself as an advocate for the common frontiersman, where he grew up and made his considerable fortune. Jackson had an extremely volatile temper, and never forgave what he perceived to be a slight.

1. 1824 Election—Since Jefferson’s election in 1800, presidential elections had been relatively uncontested, with the Secretary of State usually slotted to be the next president; the 1824 election, on the other hand, was hotly contested, with four Democratic-Republican candidates vying for the position—John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Johnson, and Henry Clay. Jackson won the popular vote, largely on the strength of his western appeal. Adams solidly took all of the states of New England; as a result the election, for the first time since 1800, was thrown to the House of Representatives. Clay had enough support there to throw the election to Adams.

2. 1828 Election—Jackson won handily over the unpopular Adams, and promptly moved to even scores—“To the victor belong the spoils.”

C. New Factional Split

1. Jackson and the Democratic Party—the name Jackson’s larger faction of Democratic-Republicans assumes

2. Adams, Clay, and the Whigs—the smaller faction, followers of Adams and Clay, begin to call themselves “Whigs” after the British political party, which opposed the party of the king (“King Andrew,” as American Whigs began derisively calling Andrew Jackson)


D. “King Andrew”—Jackson moved decisively throughout much of his eight years in office to strengthen the executive branch, and to undermine the position of those he saw as his enemies.


1. Dismantling the “American System”—following the War of 1812, Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and John C. Calhoun had cooperatively passed a series of legislative measures known collectively as the “American System”—the establishment of a national bank, tariff’s to promote and protect domestic industries, and congressionally funded internal improvements. Jackson’s dismantling of this neo-federalist system led to the creation of the Whig Party.


2. “Hard Cider and Log Cabins”—significantly, the elections that the Whigs won—like William Henry Harrison in 1840—were a result of being able to appeal to what later comes to be identified as “populist” sentiment—that these candidates rise to national office through the strength of their character, rather than on family connections.

E. Personality and Politics—the most successful political parties on the national stage run political campaigns on the personality of their candidates, rather than on a specific platform; this usually allows the candidates to act in a more pragmatic manner, rather than being bound by ideology