Editing Whig Party (United States) (section)

== Base of support ==
[[File:Second Party System.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|U.S. presidential election results from 1828 to 1852. Darker shades of blue indicate states that generally voted for the Democratic Party, while darker shades of yellow/brown indicate states that generally voted for the Whig or National Republican Party.]]

Political scientist A. James Reichley writes that the Democrats and Whigs were "political institutions of a kind that had never existed before in history" because they commanded mass membership among voters and continued to function between elections.<ref>Reichley (2000), pp. 84–85</ref> Both parties drew support from voters of various classes, occupations, religions, and ethnicities.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 115</ref> Nonetheless, the Whig Party was based among middle-class conservatives.<ref>Howe (1984), p. 212</ref>{{Incomplete short citation|date=August 2019}} The central fault line between the parties concerned the emerging [[market economy]], as Whigs embraced the economic and social changes caused by the market economy and Democrats rejected them.<ref name="Holt 1999, pp. 115–116">Holt (1999), pp. 115–116</ref>

Whigs drew strength from the economic elites in both Northern cities and Southern plantation regions, but they also attracted support from other classes in most cities.<ref name="Holt 1999, pp. 115–116"/> In many states, local rivalries pushed groups into one party or the other, though areas that favored internal improvements tended to favor Whigs. [[Catholicism|Catholics]] overwhelmingly voted Democrat, while Protestants were split between the two parties. Recent Irish and German immigrants generally supported the Democrats, but recent immigrants from England, Scotland, and Wales tended to support the Whigs.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 117–118</ref>

Although the Whigs and the rival Democratic Party established party structures that were unprecedented in terms of mass membership and continued functionality, both parties were still essentially coalitions of state party organizations and lacked strong cohesion at the national level.<ref>Reichley (2000), pp. 84–85, 93</ref> The Whigs built on the strength of National Republicans and the Anti-Masonic Party to build up party organizations in Delaware, Maryland, and much of New England.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 34–35, 52</ref>

Appealing to voters with a mix of economic and social policies, the Whigs established capable party organizations in Northeastern states like New York and Pennsylvania.<ref>Reichley (2000), p. 87</ref> Unlike the Federalists and the National Republicans, the Whigs were competitive in the South, building strong state parties in Tennessee and Kentucky, and competitive parties in Louisiana, Georgia, and Virginia.<ref name="reichley7980">Reichley (2000), pp. 79–80</ref> By emphasizing their moral conservatism, the Whigs were also able to expand into the [[Old Northwest|Northwest]] and win elections in a state like Ohio and Indiana.<ref>Reichley (2000), pp. 81–82</ref> The Whigs were generally not as competitive in Democratic strongholds like New Hampshire,<ref>Reichley (2000), p. 74</ref> Maine, Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 50, 213–215</ref>

=== Party leaders ===
[[File:Charles Sumner - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Charles Sumner]], an anti-slavery "Conscience Whig" who later joined the Republican Party]]
[[File:The Public Library of the city of Boston - a history (1911) (14594074519).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Edward Everett]], a pro-South "Cotton Whig"]]

Henry Clay of Kentucky was the party's congressional leader from the time of its formation in 1833 until his resignation from the Senate in 1842, and he remained an important Whig leader until his death in 1852.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 26–27, 146,</ref> His frequent rival for leadership of the party was Daniel Webster, who represented Massachusetts in the Senate and served as Secretary of State under three Whig presidents.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. , 325</ref> Clay and Webster each repeatedly sought the Whig presidential nomination, but, excepting Clay's nomination in 1844, the Whigs consistently nominated individuals who had served as generals, specifically William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and Winfield Scott. Harrison, Taylor, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore all served as president, though Tyler was expelled from the Whig Party shortly after taking office in 1841. [[Benjamin Robbins Curtis]] was the lone Whig to serve on the [[Supreme Court of the United States]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Huebner |first1=Timothy S. |title=The Taney Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy |url=https://archive.org/details/taneycourtjustic00hueb |url-access=limited |date=2003 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1576073681 |page=[https://archive.org/details/taneycourtjustic00hueb/page/n111 97]}}</ref> though later Supreme Court justices like [[John Marshall Harlan]] affiliated with the Whig Party early in their career before joining the Court as members of another party.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Luxenberg |first1=Steve |title=Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation |date=2019 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393239379 |pages=34–35}}</ref>

During the time of the party's existence, numerous other Whig leaders emerged, including [[Truman Smith]] of Connecticut, who Holt describes as "the Whigs' closest equivalent to a modern national party chairman" for his efforts to raise money, deliver the Whig message, and build up the party nationwide.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 236–237</ref> In New York, William Seward and Thurlow Weed established an influential organization and competed with Millard Fillmore's faction of the party.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 506</ref> John M. Clayton of Delaware and John C. Crittenden of Kentucky were important border state Whigs who were influential in the Taylor administration.<ref name="holt407410">Holt (1999), pp. 407–410</ref>

Supreme Court Justice [[John McLean]] of Ohio commanded a following in the party and was a perennial aspirant for the Whig presidential nomination, but he maintained his independence from the party and never ran for office as a Whig candidate.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 261–262</ref> [[Thomas Corwin]] of Ohio emerged in the 1840s as a leading opponent of the Mexican–American War, and he later served as Fillmore's Secretary of the Treasury.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 265–266</ref> [[William Cabell Rives]] of Virginia joined the Whig Party over dissatisfaction with Van Buren's handling of the Independent Treasury, and he became a prominent conservative Whig.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 67–68, 287–288</ref>

In Georgia, future Confederate Vice President [[Alexander H. Stephens]] and [[Robert Toombs]] competed for influence with their intra-party rival, [[John M. Berrien]].<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 286–287</ref> Future [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] President [[Abraham Lincoln]] served a single term as a Whig congressman representing Illinois.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 288</ref>

One strength of the Whigs was a superb network of newspapers—their leading editor was [[Horace Greeley]] of the powerful ''[[New-York Tribune|New-York Daily Tribune]]''.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Robert C. |title=Horace Greeley: Champion of American Freedom |publisher=New York University Press |year=2006 |doi=10.18574/nyu/9780814789056.003.0008 |page=29 |language=English}}</ref> The ''[[Boston Atlas]]'', under the leadership of Richard Haughton and [[Richard Hildreth]], also emerged as an important Whig paper.<ref>Wilentz (2005), p. 483</ref> Influenced by the writings of [[Thomas Robert Malthus|Thomas Malthus]] and [[David Ricardo]], [[Henry Charles Carey]] became the leading Whig economist in the 1830s. Other prominent Whig-aligned intellectuals and public figures include journalist [[John G. Palfrey]] of the ''[[North American Review]]'', novelist [[John P. Kennedy]], and historian [[William H. Prescott]].<ref>Wilentz (2005), pp. 488–491</ref>

=== Factions ===
The Whigs suffered greatly from factionalism throughout their existence and weak party loyalty, which stood in contrast to the strong party discipline that was the hallmark of a tight Democratic Party organization.<ref>Lynn Marshall. "The Strange Stillbirth of the Whig Party", ''American Historical Review'', (1967) 72#2 pp. 445–68 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1859236 online].</ref> Forged out of opposition to Jackson's perceived executive tyranny, the early Whig Party was divided between former National Republicans who favored federal measures to promote economic development and Southern states' rights advocates who wished to keep federal intervention in the economy to a minimum.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 28–29</ref> By the 1840s, Southern Whigs like [[John M. Berrien]] of Georgia and [[John Botts]] of Virginia endorsed interventionist measures, but other Southern Whigs like [[William Cabell Rives]] of Virginia actively sought to shift the party away from economic nationalism.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 286–288</ref>

The Whig Party faced persistent sectional divisions regarding slavery. Northern Whigs tended to be more anti-slavery than Northern Democrats, but during the 1830s, Southern Whigs tended to be more pro-slavery than their Democratic counterparts.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 44</ref> By the late 1840s, Southern Democrats had become more insistent regarding the expansion of slavery and more open to the prospect of [[secession in the United States|secession]] than their Whig counterparts.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 463–464</ref> Northern Whigs divided into two major factions concerning slavery: the anti-slavery Conscience Whigs and the pro-South Cotton Whigs. While the "Consciences" were noted for their moral opposition to slavery–many, like John Quincy Adams, brought over their crusading fervor from their Anti-Masonic days.<ref>Wilentz, (2016) p. 145.</ref>

The other faction was tied to the cotton-based textile industry, which depended on Southern cotton. They de-emphasized the slavery issue. In Massachusetts, notable Consciences included [[Charles Sumner]], [[Henry Wilson]] and [[Charles Francis Adams, Sr.|Charles Francis Adams]] while the Cottons were led by such figures as [[Edward Everett]], [[Robert C. Winthrop]] and [[Abbott Lawrence]].<ref>{{cite book|author=John R. McKivigan|title=Abolitionism and American Politics and Government|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WBW2tvCheJYC&pg=PA120|year=1999|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=120|isbn=978-0815331070}}</ref> During the mid-1850s, several Conscience leaders played an important role in the founding of the Republican Party.<ref>{{cite book|author1=L. Sandy Maisel|author-link1=L. Sandy Maisel|author2=Mark D. Brewer|title=Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YLcllGsX-4C&pg=PA38|year=2008|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|page=38|isbn=978-0742547643}}</ref>