Whig Party

The Whig Party was a political party in the United States that existed from 1833 to 1854. Alongside the Democratic Party, it was one of two major parties from the late 1830s until the early 1850s and part of the Second Party System. As well as four Whig presidents (William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Millard Fillmore), other prominent members included Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Rufus Choate, William Seward, John J. Crittenden, and John Quincy Adams (whose presidency ended prior to the formation of the Whig Party).

The Whig base of support included entrepreneurs, professionals, Protestant Christians (particularly Evangelicals), the urban middle class, and nativists. The party was hostile towards the ideology of "manifest destiny", territorial expansion into Texas and the Southwest, and the Mexican–American War. It disapproved of presidential power as exhibited by Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk, and preferred congressional dominance in governing. Members advocated modernization, meritocracy, the rule of law, protections against majority rule, and vigilance against executive tyranny.