American Whig Party

Historical Context Essay

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Domains

Political Parties

Dates

Date of occurrence 1833-10

Places

United States (Location)

Resources

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In 1833-1834, the American Whig Party was founded by a number of former National Republicans, including John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. The Whig Party was wholly opposed to the policies of president Andrew Jackson. Jackson was regarded by Whigs as an anti-modernization figure a man who would irreparably harm the development of the nascent United States. Whigs were especially opposed to Jackson's unauthorized removal of deposits from the Bank of the United States, which killed the Bank. Eventually different Whig factions (southern and northern) rallied around economic policy that encouraged a larger government and a modern industrial economy. Whigs also sought to improve the nation's infrastructure, promote manufacturing, and impose a tariff on all imported products. The Democratic…

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480 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "American Whig Party". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 January 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=37, accessed 07 May 2024.]

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