National Republican Party (United States)

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The National Republican Party was a United States political party that existed from 1829-1833 at the start of the Second Party System.

Before John Quincy Adams's presidency the original Republican Party, which had been the only truly national American political party for over a decade, began to dissolve, losing its infrastructure and identity. Its caucuses no longer met to select candidates. Politicians who supported Adams became known as the National Republicans, while others who supported Andrew Jackson were called "Jackson Men" and would later form the Democratic Party. In the 1828 election, Adams won 44% of the popular vote, and 83 out of 261 electoral votes.

The ad-hoc coalition that supported John Quincy Adams fell apart after 1828 and the main opposition to Jackson was the National Republican party created and run by Henry Clay. It shared the conservative, nationalistic outlook as the Adamsites, and wanted to use national resources to build a strong economy. Their platform was Clay's "American System" of nationally financed internal improvements and a protective tariff, which would promote faster economic development. More important, by binding together the diverse interests of the different regions they would promote national unity and harmony. The National Republicans saw the Union as a corporate, organic whole. Hence the rank and file, like Abraham Lincoln, idealized Clay for his comprehensive perspective on the national interest. Conversely, they disdained party politicians for pandering to local interests at the expense of the national interest. [Brown p 20] The Whig party emerged 1832-34 as a coalition of National Republicans, along with Anti-Masons, disaffected Jacksonians, and people whose last political activity was with the Federalists a decade before.

[edit] Elections

In the congressional elections of 1830-31, the number of National Republican seats in the House fell from 74 to 58, while the Democratic total climbed from 139 to 141. Historian Michael Holt blames the leadership: "The National Republican leadership's faith in the ability of national issues and a coalition of congressional leaders to rally grass-roots voters made them blindly insensitive and, in the end, resistant to important popular currents and political developments at the subnational level that had little to do with national concerns." [Holt 11-12]

The National Republicans ran Henry Clay against Andrew Jackson in the election of 1832, and Clay's loss convinced Jackson that the people had given him a mandate to abolish the Bank of the United States. Clay won 37.42% of the popular vote, and 49 out of 288 electoral votes.

After the election of 1832, the National Republican party fell apart. In the short term, most of its members joined the Whig Party. It was not a direct predecessor of the current Republican Party, founded in 1854, although most Whig supporters eventually joined the Republican Party.

Presidential Candidate:

• Henry Clay/John Sergeant - 1832 (lost)

[edit] See also

• American System
• List of political parties in the United States
• Era of Good Feelings
• Second Party System.

[edit] References

• Thomas Brown; Politics and Statesmanship: Essays on the American Whig Party. Columbia University Press. 1985.
• Carroll, E. Malcolm; Origins of the Whig Party Duke University Press. 1925. chapter 1
• Michael F. Holt; The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War. 1999
• Robert V. Remini, Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (1993)

Political Parties of the United States
Major Parties	Democratic    Republican
Third Parties	Constitution     Green     Libertarian
Smaller Parties	Peace and Freedom    Reform    Socialist    Socialist Workers    VT Progressive
Historical Parties	Anti-Masonic  Democratic-Republican  Federalist  National Republican  Populist (People's) Party  Progressive  Whig
See List of political parties in the United States for a complete list.