Second Party System

• 1. Origins And Realignment

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  The year 1824 marked a turning point in American politics when no candidate secured an electoral college majority. Four men from the same party, Henry Clay, William Crawford, Andrew Jackson, and John Quincy Adams, competed for the presidency. Each held a regional base of support across various states. The House of Representatives decided the election after the popular vote failed to produce a winner. Henry Clay, who was not among the three finalists, negotiated a settlement as Speaker of the House. John Quincy Adams won the election and immediately appointed Clay as Secretary of State. Andrew Jackson denounced this arrangement as a corrupt bargain. He campaigned vigorously against what he saw as corruption in Washington. His coalition included local militia companies and state political factions. This group formed the embryonic Democratic Party that ousted Adams in 1828. Martin Van Buren played a key role by bringing electoral votes from Virginia and Pennsylvania. He later became Vice President under Jackson's heir. The National Republicans emerged from the Adams-Clay wing of the Democratic-Republican Party. They never considered themselves loyal members of the new party.

• 2. Jacksonian Democracy And Bank War

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  Andrew Jackson viewed himself as a reformer committed to old Republican ideals. He bitterly opposed anything resembling special favors for special interests. The Second Party System arose primarily because Jackson sought to destroy the Second Bank of the United States. Headquartered in Philadelphia with offices nationwide, the bank operated like a central bank. Local bankers and politicians annoyed by Nicholas Biddle's controls grumbled loudly. Jackson disliked all banks since paper money was anathema to him. He believed only gold and silver should circulate. After Herculean battles with Henry Clay, his chief antagonist, Jackson finally broke Biddle's bank. His Specie Circular of July 1836 rejected paper money issued by banks. It could no longer be used to buy federal land. Most businessmen and bankers went over to the Whig party. Commercial and industrial cities became Whig strongholds. Jackson remained popular with subsistence farmers and day laborers who distrusted bankers. Economic historians have explored the high degree of financial instability during this era. Peter Temin absolved Jackson's policies and blamed international events beyond American control. Conditions in Mexico, China, and Britain contributed to inflation and crisis. A survey of economic historians in 1995 showed most concurred that the crisis would have occurred regardless of Jackson's actions regarding the Second Bank.

• 3. Whig Modernization Efforts

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  Both parties shared common ancestors but held major policy differences. The Whigs were more upscale, better educated, more urban, and more entrepreneurial than Democrats. They favored economic expansion through activist government while Democrats preferred limited central government. Whigs supported corporate charters, a national bank, and paper currency. Democrats opposed all three. Public works programs to build roads, canals, and railroads gave the country infrastructure for rapid development. Whigs argued these projects expanded economic opportunity for everyone including laborers and farmers. Democrats called for more farms to raise families in traditional styles. They pushed for expansion south and west. James Polk added Texas, the Southwest, California, and Oregon over intense Whig opposition. In most cities wealthy men voted Whig at rates between 85 and 90 percent. Rural America saw Whigs stronger in market towns and commercial areas. Ethnic and religious communities followed similar patterns with Irish and German Catholics heavily Democratic. Pietistic Protestants tended toward Whiggish views. Economic modernizers mobilized into a new anti-Jackson force calling themselves Whigs. They saw themselves battling King Andrew just as patriots battled King George III in 1776. A moralistic crusade against the Masonic order matured into a regular political party. Jackson fought back using federal patronage and rhetoric identifying banks as threats to republican spirit.

• 4. Campaign Strategies And Democratization

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  The American political system underwent fundamental change after 1820 under Jacksonian democracy. Before then deference to upper class elites characterized local politics across the country. Few men were interested in politics before 1828 and fewer still voted or became engaged. Changes followed the psychological shock of the panic of 1819 and the election of Andrew Jackson. By 1840 campaigns featured appeals to the common man through mass meetings and parades. Elections generated high voter participation while parties democratized structure and ideology. Both parties relied heavily on national networks of newspapers. Some editors were key political players filling papers with rally information and speeches. The Whigs used newspapers effectively and adopted exciting campaign techniques luring 75 to 85 percent of eligible voters. Abraham Lincoln emerged early as leader in Illinois where he was often bested by Stephen Douglas. Democrats made up for weaker newspaper work by emphasizing party loyalty. Anyone attending a Democratic convention from precinct to national level was honor bound to support the final candidate. This rule produced numerous schisms but Democrats controlled rank and file more effectively than Whigs did. Political conventions replaced caucuses everywhere as methods varied somewhat though outcomes remained similar.

• 5. Social And Religious Divisions

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  Ethnicity and religion influenced voting patterns between Democrats and Whigs throughout the Second Party System. Catholic immigrants especially Irish and German were heavily and enthusiastically Democratic. Evangelical Protestants and English and Scots-Irish immigrants typically supported Whig candidates. In Springfield, Illinois, poll books showed how individuals voted indicating Whig rise occurred in 1836. These Whigs were largely native-born either from New England or Kentucky. They included professional men or farm owners devoted to partisan organization. By the 1840s Springfield began falling into Democratic hands as immigrants changed the city's makeup. Lincoln barely won the city by the 1860 presidential election. Most prominent men in towns and cities were Whigs controlling local offices and judgeships. The outcome of political processes remained mixed despite these divisions. Economic modernization moved ahead rapidly even as old leaders like Calhoun, Webster, Clay, Jackson, and Polk passed from scene. Old economic issues died about same time new questions emerged regarding slavery, nativism, and religion. The Third Party System was ready to emerge as democratic dominance seemed assured after Free Soil revolt healed following 1852.

• 6. Third Parties And Abolitionist Movements

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  Minor parties played important roles shaping national politics during this era. The Anti-Masonic Party flourished only in states with weak second party presence between 1827 and 1834. It served as an innovator before combining with the Whigs. The abolitionist Liberty Party appeared in 1840 while anti-slavery expansion Free Soil Party contested elections in 1848 and 1852. These groups influenced how major parties positioned themselves on critical issues. The Whig party could conduct successful campaigns only as long as slavery issue remained ignored. As coalition of Northern National Republicans and Southern Nullifiers they held opposing views on slavery. By early 1850s question of slavery dominated political landscape causing Whig disintegration. A few Whigs lingered claiming they were only party preserving Union against alternatives. In 1856 remaining Whigs endorsed Know Nothing campaign of Millard Fillmore. They later supported Constitutional Union ticket of John Bell in 1860. With outbreak of Civil War in 1861 Whig party ceased to exist entirely. Most Democratic leaders accepted many Whiggish ideas by 1850s despite old economic modernization moving ahead rapidly.

• 7. Collapse And Legacy

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  The Second Party System operated from about 1828 until early 1854 when it ended. Rapidly rising levels of voter interest characterized this period through Election Day turnouts, rallies, partisan newspapers, and high personal loyalty. Two major parties dominated the political landscape: Democrats led by Andrew Jackson and Whigs assembled by Henry Clay. Minor parties included Anti-Masonic, Liberty, and Free Soil movements that shaped national discourse. Historian Richard P. McCormick defined characteristics including regional effects strongly affecting developments. Adams forces strongest in New England while Jacksonians dominated Southwest. For first time two-party politics extended to South and West which had been one-party regions. Each region showed roughly equal strength between two parties making system vulnerable to region-specific issues like slavery. Same two parties appeared in every state contesting both electoral vote and state offices. Abrupt emergence of two-party South occurred during 1832-1834 mostly as reaction against Van Buren. Methods varied somewhat but everywhere political convention replaced caucus. Parties developed interests of their own regarding office-seeking goals of activists. System brought forth new popular campaign style where close elections rather than charismatic candidates or particular issues brought out voters. Party leaders formed parties partly in their own image before disintegration began due to slavery debates.