Editing Whig Party (United States) (section)

===Creation, 1833–1836===
{{Further|Presidency of Andrew Jackson|Second Party System}}
[[File:Daniel Webster.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Daniel Webster]], a leading Whig from [[New England]]]]

Shortly after Jackson's re-election, South Carolina passed a measure to "[[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|nullify]]" the [[Tariff of 1832]], beginning the [[Nullification Crisis]]. Jackson strongly denied the right of South Carolina to nullify federal law, but the crisis was resolved after Congress passed the [[Tariff of 1833]].<ref name="Holt 1999, p. 20">Holt (1999), p. 20.</ref> The Nullification Crisis briefly scrambled the partisan divisions that had emerged after 1824, as many within the Jacksonian coalition opposed President Jackson's threats of force against South Carolina, while some opposition leaders like Daniel Webster supported them.{{sfn|Cole|1993|pp=178–180}} 

The name "Whig" was first suggested for Jackson's opponents by [[James Watson Webb]], editor of the ''Courier and Enquirer'' of New York City.<ref>[[Claude G. Bowers]], ''The Party Battles of the Jackson Period'', [https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/72299/pg72299-images.html p.357] ([[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin Co.]] 1922) (retrieved Jul.7, 2024)</ref> In South Carolina and other states, those opposed to Jackson began to form small "Whig" parties.<ref name=" Holt 1999, p. 20"/> The Whig label implicitly compared "King Andrew" to King [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]], the [[List of British monarchs|King of Great Britain]] at the time of the [[American Revolution]].{{sfn|Cole|1993|pp=211–213}}

Jackson's decision to remove government deposits from the national bank{{efn|Though Jackson had vetoed a re-charter bill, the bank still retained federal deposits at the start of his second term.{{sfn|Cole|1993|pp=190–193}} The national bank's federal charter expired in 1836.{{sfn|Cole|1993|pp=209–211}}}} ended any possibility of a Webster-Jackson alliance and helped to solidify partisan lines.{{sfn|Cole|1993|pp=202–203}} The removal of the deposits drew opposition from both pro-bank National Republicans and [[states' rights]] Southerners like [[Willie Person Mangum]] of North Carolina, the latter of whom accused Jackson of flouting the Constitution.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 24.</ref> In late 1833, Clay began to hold a series of dinners with opposition leaders to settle on a candidate to oppose [[Martin Van Buren]], the likely Democratic nominee in the [[1836 United States presidential election|1836 presidential election]]. While Jackson's opponents could not agree on a single presidential candidate, they coordinated in the Senate to oppose Jackson's initiatives.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 26.</ref> Historian Michael Holt writes that the "birth of the Whig Party" can be dated to Clay and his allies taking control of the Senate in December 1833.<ref name="holtbirth">Holt (1999), pp. 26–27.</ref>

The National Republicans, including Clay and Webster, formed the core of the Whig Party, but many Anti-Masons like [[William H. Seward]] of New York and [[Thaddeus Stevens]] of Pennsylvania also joined. Several prominent Democrats defected to the Whigs, including Mangum, former Attorney General [[John M. Berrien|John Berrien]], and [[John Tyler]] of Virginia.{{sfn|Cole|1993|pp=211–213}} The Whig Party's first significant action was to [[Censure in the United States|censure]] Jackson for the removal of the national bank deposits, thereby establishing opposition to Jackson's executive power as the organizing principle of the new party.<ref name="Holt 1999, pp. 27–28"/>

In doing so, the Whigs were able to shed the elitist image that had persistently hindered the National Republicans.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 30.</ref> Throughout 1834 and 1835, the Whigs successfully incorporated National Republican and Anti-Masonic state-level organizations and established new state party organizations in Southern states like North Carolina and Georgia.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 34–35.</ref> The Anti-Masonic heritage of the Whigs included a distrust of behind-the-scenes political maneuvering by party bosses instead of encouraging direct appeals to the people through gigantic rallies, parades, and rhetorical rabble-rousing.<ref>Sean Wilentz, ''The Politicians and the Egalitarians: The Hidden History of American Politics'' (2017) p 141.</ref>