National Republican Party

The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party, was a political party in the United States. During the administration of John Quincy Adams (1825–1829), the president's supporters were referred to as Adams Men or Anti-Jackson. When Andrew Jackson was elected President of the United States in 1828, this group went into opposition. The use of the term "National Republican" dates from 1830.

History

Before the elevation of John Quincy Adams to the presidency in 1825, the Democratic-Republican Party, which had been the only national American political party for over a decade, began to fracture, losing its infrastructure and identity. Its caucuses no longer met to select candidates because now they had separate interests. After the 1824 election, factions developed in support of Adams and in support of Andrew Jackson. Adams politicians, including most ex-Federalists (such as Daniel Webster and even Adams himself), would gradually evolve into the National Republican Party, and those politicians that supported Jackson would later help form the modern Democratic Party.

The ad hoc coalition that supported John Quincy Adams fell apart after his defeat for reelection in 1828. The main opposition to Jackson, the new president, was the National Republican Party, or Anti-Jacksonians created and run by Henry Clay. It shared the same nationalistic outlook as the Adamsites, and wanted to use national resources to build a strong economy. Its 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, the party intended to promote national unity and harmony.

The National Republicans saw the Union as a corporate, organic whole. Hence the rank and file idealized Clay for his comprehensive perspective on the national interest. Conversely, they disdained those they identified as "party" politicians for pandering to local interests at the expense of the national interest.^[1] The party met in national convention in late 1831 and nominated Clay for the presidency and John Sergeant for the vice presidency.

The Whig Party emerged in 1833–1834 after Clay's defeat 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. In the short term, it formed the Whig Party with the help of other smaller parties in a coalition against President Jackson and his reforms.

United States Presidential Elections Election year % of votes Winner 1828 43.7% Andrew Jackson 1832 36.9%

United States House of Representatives Election year # of overall seats won +/– Presidency 1824 109 / 213 85 John Quincy Adams 1826 100 / 213 9 1828 73 / 213 27 Andrew Jackson 1830 66 / 213 6 1832 61 / 213 5

United States Senate Election year # of overall seats won +/– Presidency 1824 22 / 48 John Quincy Adams 1826 21 / 48 1 1828 23 / 48 2 Andrew Jackson 1830 24 / 48 1 1832 26 / 48 2 1834 24 / 52 2

See also

• Era of Good Feelings
• Second Party System

Footnotes

Further reading

• Michael F. Holt, The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Carroll, E. Malcolm, Origins of the Whig Party. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1925.
• Robert V. Remini, Henry Clay: A Statesman for the Union. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1992.