The Whig Alternative to Jacksonian Democracy

1832 Election

The New Political CoalitionOpponents of Jackson formed a new party in 1834 –

the Whig PartyGenerated support from

Southern Planters; Northern IndustrialistsEvangelical Protestants

Campaigned forStrong central govt.Internal improvements (Clay’s American System)National Bank & industrial growthMoral & social reforms

1836 Election

Van Buren in the White HouseBiggest problem he faced was

the depression he inherited from Jackson (Panic of 1837)

Election of 1840Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison

& John Tyler to run against Van BurenWhigs portrayed Van Buren as an

aristocrat and Harrison as a simple frontiersman who lived in a log cabin & drank hard cider“Tippecanoe & Tyler Too!”

Election had the biggest voter turnout at that time

Harrison won but died 32 days after inauguration

1840 Election

Expansion & the Election of 1844Tyler refused to support the larger Whig

political agenda (originally was a Democrat)In response, the Whigs nominated Clay to run

against Democrat James K. Polk in the 1844 election

Polk based his platform on westward expansion; Clay emphasized economic policies (tariffs & internal improvements)

Polk won the election, which showed that the nation was focused on expansion

Election of 1844

Manifest DestinyTyler worked to support the cause of Manifest

Destiny but had little political supportBelief that the U.S. was destined to expand

westward to the Pacific – duty to civilize others & spread Christianity

Used to gain public support for American territorial expansion

".... the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federaltive development of self-government entrusted to us. It is right such as that of the tree to the space of air and the earth suitable for the full expansion of its principle and destiny of growth.” – John L. O’Sullivan

The Texas QuestionState in the Republic of Mexico since 1822By 1835, thousands of Americans had migrated

to Texas after the Mexican govt. offered land grants to settlersMany brought slaves with them

With foreigners flooding in, the Mexican govt. saw their power base erode, so they attempted to tighten their control; banned slaveryTexans responded by proclaiming

independence in 1836

The Texas QuestionAfter Mexican dictator Santa

Anna defeated Texans at the Alamo, Texans, led by Sam Houston, fought back & defeated Mexico the San Jacinto River

Treaty of Velasco (1836) recognized Texas’s independence & acknowledged the Rio Grande as the border between Texas & Mexico

Treaty was never ratified by the Mexican govt.

The Texas QuestionHouston asked the U.S.

govt. to annex Texas, but Jackson said noConcerned about

reviving the slavery issue

President Tyler finally admitted Texas to the Union in 1845

War with MexicoPolk wanted to buy CA, but

relations with Mexico City were tense

Mexican govt. had severed diplomatic relations after the U.S. annexed Texas

Boundary issues involving TexasWouldn’t consider Polk’s offer to

buy CA

War with MexicoJan. 1846 Mexican troops crossed the Rio

Grande & attacked General Taylor & his men – start of the war

Wilmot ProvisoCalled for the prohibition of slavery in lands

acquired from Mexico in the Mexican WarNever became federal law

War with MexicoTreaty of

Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)Mexico ceded

TexasU.S. paid $15

million for the land west to the Pacific