Whig Party

In the USA, political party formed in 1832 to oppose the autocratic presidency of Andrew Jackson. Whig candidate presidents include General William Henry Harrison, 1840; John Tyler 1841–1845; General Zachary Taylor, 1849–1850; and Millard Fillmore 1850–1853. The party diverged over the issue of slavery: the northern Whigs joined the Republican party and the southern or ‘Cotton’ Whigs joined the Democrats. The title was taken from the British Whig Party, which supported Parliament against the king. During the American Revolution, colonial patriots described themselves as Whigs, while those remaining loyal to Britain were known as Tories.

The Whig party formed in 1832 when a coalition of anti-Jackson forces opposed President Jackson's increasing power to veto bills and to choose his cabinet. Henry Clay of Kentucky and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts became leading figures, and John Quincy Adams was a prominent member. They advocated an avidly nationalistic ‘American System’, including a programme of federal tariff protection; improved roads, canals, and railroads; a national bank; and a conservative public land sales policy.

Wealthy southern cotton planters joined the Whigs because they were anti-Democrat, and northern factory owners were attracted by the protective tariff policy. With an increasingly broad following, the Whig Party ran in strong second place to the Democratic Party. They lost the 1832 election to Jackson, but the popularity of candidate General William Henry Harrison brought them victory in 1840. Disastrously for the Whigs, however, Harrison died only one month after assuming office. John Tyler, the former Democrat vice president replaced him, but vetoed key Whig tariff and banking bills.

In 1844, Henry Clay was a favoured Whig presidential candidate, but his refusal to take a position on slavery cost him many northern votes and he lost the election to Democrat James Polk. In 1848 however the Whigs gained presidential victory with another popular military hero, General Zachary Taylor. By this time, however, the country was bitterly divided over slavery and national expansion. A staunch nationalist, Taylor was adamant in his resistance to the southern leaders threats of secession. He also blocked the now aged Whig leaders Clay and Webster's attempts to compromise. However, events took an unexpected turn when Taylor died suddenly on 9 July 1850.

Taylor was succeeded by Millard Fillmore, a power in New York state politics, and an abrupt political shift in the administration took place. Taylor's cabinet resigned and Fillmore appointed Daniel Webster to be secretary of state, thus proclaiming an alliance with the moderate Whigs. He then pronounced in favour of the Compromise of 1850. On 16 June 1852 the Whigs nominated another prominent general, Winfield Scott, but lost the election to Democrat Franklin Pierce, once again because of party division over slavery. Southern Whigs were threatened by northern encroachment on slaveholding rights, and a significant number of northern Whigs joined the antislavery Free Soil Party.

After Clay and Webster died in 1852, within months of each other, the Whig party rapidly began to deteriorate. Many Whigs defected to the Republican Party, while the anti-immigrant Know Nothings eroded previously Whig-controlled urban areas. By 1860 only a vague remnant of the Whig Party survived in the form of the failing Constitutional Union Party.

Whig Party

In the UK, predecessor of the Liberal Party. The name was first used of rebel Covenanters and then of those who wished to exclude James II from the English succession (as a Roman Catholic). They were in power continuously from 1714 to 1760 and pressed for industrial and commercial development, a vigorous foreign policy, and religious toleration. During the French Revolution, the Whigs demanded parliamentary reform in Britain, and from the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832 became increasingly known as Liberals.