If you’re staring at your APUSH textbook and the 1830s feel like a blur of angry guys in cravats shouting about banks, you aren't alone. Honestly, trying to keep the Second Party System straight is a headache. On one side, you have Andrew Jackson—the guy on the $20 bill who basically redefined what it meant to be "for the people." On the other, you’ve got the Whigs, who basically formed a whole political identity around hating him.
But here’s the thing. Most people think this was just a "rich vs. poor" thing. It wasn't. It's way messier. Basically, it was a fight over what America was actually supposed to be. Is it a land of independent farmers who just want the government to leave them alone? Or is it an industrial powerhouse with railroads and a big national bank?
The Hook: Why Do We Even Call Them Whigs?
The name "Whig" sounds like something out of a British period drama, and that's actually the point. In England, the Whigs were the people who opposed the absolute power of the King. By calling themselves Whigs, Henry Clay and his buddies were basically calling Andrew Jackson "King Andrew I." They were trolling him. They thought he was a tyrant because he used the veto more than all previous presidents combined.
Jacksonian Democrats, on the other hand, saw themselves as the heirs to Thomas Jefferson. They wanted a small federal government and big individual liberty. You've probably heard the term "Jacksonian Democracy"—that’s the vibe. It was the "Era of the Common Man."
Democrats vs Whigs: The Bread and Butter Differences
If you’re writing an LEQ or a DBQ, you need to know the specific stuff they fought about. It usually comes down to three things: the Bank, the Tariff, and "Internal Improvements" (which is just old-timey speak for infrastructure).
The National Bank (The 19th Century Death Star)
The Second Bank of the United States was the biggest drama of the 1830s.
- Democrats: Hated it. Jackson thought it was a "monster" that helped rich city folk at the expense of the "yeoman farmer." He eventually "killed" the bank by pulling all the federal money out and putting it into "Pet Banks."
- Whigs: Loved it. They believed a national bank kept the economy stable and provided credit for new businesses.
The American System
This was Henry Clay’s baby. He wanted a high protective tariff to help American factories, a national bank, and federal money for roads and canals.
- Whigs: "Yes, please. Build the roads. Tax the imports."
- Democrats: "No way. Tariffs make things more expensive for Southern farmers, and the Constitution doesn't say the government can build a road in Kentucky."
Who Actually Voted for These People?
This is where the APUSH exam usually tries to trip you up. It’s not just "North vs. South."
The Democrats were a weird coalition. You had Southern planters who wanted to protect slavery, but you also had Northern "urban labor"—basically factory workers who felt the new economy was leaving them behind. They were the party of the "outsider." They also tended to be the party that welcomed immigrants, especially Irish and German Catholics.
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The Whigs were the "respectable" ones. They were the party of the professional class: lawyers, doctors, successful merchants, and "upwardly mobile" people. If you lived in New England and went to a Protestant church, you were probably a Whig. They also had support from some wealthy Southern planters who wanted better infrastructure to get their cotton to market.
The "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" Election of 1840
You've gotta love 1840. It was the first "modern" campaign. The Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison, a war hero from the Battle of Tippecanoe. Even though he was actually a wealthy Virginian who lived in a mansion, they marketed him as a humble guy who lived in a log cabin and drank hard cider.
They basically out-Jacksoned the Jacksonians.
They used songs, parades, and slogans like "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." It worked. Harrison won, but then he gave a two-hour inauguration speech in the freezing rain without a coat, caught pneumonia, and died 31 days later. History is weird like that.
Why it All Fell Apart
By the 1850s, the Second Party System was basically a zombie. The issue of slavery—specifically whether it should expand into new territories—was too big to handle.
The Whigs couldn't agree on it. Northern "Conscience Whigs" hated it; Southern "Cotton Whigs" relied on it. The party just shattered. Most Northern Whigs eventually helped form the Republican Party (the party of Lincoln). The Democrats survived, but they split into Northern and Southern factions, which pretty much guaranteed the Civil War was coming.
APUSH Actionable Insights
If you’re prepping for the exam, don't just memorize the names. Focus on the Continuity and Change.
- Contextualize: Always link the rise of these parties to the Market Revolution. The reason they're fighting about banks and roads is because the US was transitiong from a local economy to a national one.
- Compare: Look for similarities. Both parties were actually okay with westward expansion (Manifest Destiny), even if they disagreed on how to do it. Both parties used the new, more "participatory" democracy to win.
- Synthesis: Think about how this mirrors today. The fight over "small government" vs. "infrastructure spending" hasn't really gone away, has it?
Next time you're reviewing, try to explain these differences to someone else without looking at your notes. If you can explain why a farmer in Tennessee would hate a bank in Philadelphia, you've basically mastered this unit.
Next Steps for Your Study Session:
- Draft a practice thesis statement comparing the economic goals of the Whigs and Democrats between 1824 and 1848.
- Identify three specific pieces of evidence (like the Specie Circular or the Maysville Road Veto) that you could use in an essay.