Democrat Vs. Whig Parties

The Democrat and Whig parties were practically the epitome of being opposites. The second political party system of America was not all that different from their predecessors, the Federalists and Republicans. That is not to say they did not have their similarities but the two are as different as night and day. Democrats were more farming oriented while the Whigs were more industrialists. For a country that didn't know which direction it was going, either agricultural or business centered, its obvious opinions were split.

It's hard to find how these two parties differed. Alas, both parties definitely wanted what they thought was best for America. It's a shame that even a similarity is also a difference, for they each wanted different things. The Whigs were nationalists and wanted the big business and commerce pushing the states forward while the Democrats favored the common man and farming. There was not much unity in America yet, partly because there was no inner turmoil to cause people to come together. There was no reason to help one another and so they didn't. A similarity between the parties was one person, Andrew Jackson, except one party favored him and another despised him. The Whigs would adopt one of the Federalist techniques in simply not liking anything their opposing party did.

One main difference was that the Whigs were elitist versus the Democrats who favored the common man. The Democrats also were in favor of states rights, meaning less federal involvement in the development of the states, whereas the Whigs were on the contrary, favoring a federal government. The list goes on with the Whigs seemingly to using all sorts of propaganda against the Democrats, going so far as to call Andrew Jackson a king. We see the same thing every four years today, with all the television ads attacking a presidential hopeful. So in doing so, these parties were laying down the foundation for what we would continue to do for centuries.

The first political party system of the U.S. was the Federalist party and the Republican party. The then Republican party would soon turn into the Democrat and Federalist would be the basis for the Whigs. The characteristics of all the parties are shockingly similar. The Federalists, like the Whigs were nationalists who believed in business and commerce. They were also elitist and featured mainly in the North East. The early Republicans, like the later Democrats, were more for state power with an agrarian style of business featuring the average man and based mainly in the south and west. So pretty much the only thing that changed from the parties was the name, even though these men called themselves different parties, they in fact weren't that different.

Even though the Whig party did not last that long they helped set a tone for future parties. In the early stages of America we see how split we were as a country and why we still have such separated parties in the Republican and Democrats. Sure, they have things in common, like going to war or maybe instituting a tax bill. However, for the most part they will remain divided until disaster strikes, when they'll come together for a short while. Democrats may not be favoring an agrarian style anymore and the Republicans may not be elite, but they still have their differences and always will.