| − | The Whig party, named after the Whigs of england, was formed in America to oppose Andrew Jackson's Democrats. They were founded by Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. | + | The '''Whig Party''', named after the Whigs of [[England]], was formed in [[America]] in response to [[Democrat]] [[President]] [[Andrew Jackson]]'s actions to increase the power of the executive branch. [[Henry Clay]] and [[Daniel Webster]] were members of a political party called the [[National Republicans]] who began to find common ground with southern Democrats such as [[John C. Calhoun]]. They argued that Jackson's powers were becoming "king-like" and begun referring to the Democratic Party as the [[Tories]] (Loyalists to the British monarchy during the [[American Revolution]]), hence they adopted the title of Whigs for their party. |
| | + | As a whole, the party was not very successful. Two Whigs were elected to the presidency, [[William Henry Harrison]] and [[Zachary Taylor]], however neither completed their terms in office. The ultimate downfall of the party was the issue of [[slavery]], with northern Whigs supporting abolitionism and the southern Whigs supporting the current institutions. |