There were multiple political parties forming in the 1800s during the emergence of the second party system. Three critical factors contributed to the emergence of the second party system, including the financial panic of 1819, slavery debates, and the selection of presidential candidates.
The Second Party System was a name for the political party systems in the United Sates during the 1800s and was the intense competition from Whigs and Democrats. The financial panic of 1819 made people question banking and tariffs. Some believed the printing of excess money was the cause of the panic and demanded hard money. Slavery debates were always there between the north and the south. Many southerners feared …show more content…
This party began from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison’s Democratic-Republican party, making it the oldest active party. Andrew Jackson, who was a self-made product, was the major leader of this party. He relied on himself to make a career, which made him popular with the ordinary people. Jackson was the representation for the “common man”. He believed that the common people’s rights were over looked by the plans of Adams and Clay.
This party believed in states’ rights and the idea that the federal government should only have the necessary powers to keep the nation functioning. They wanted a small national government and the state government to have as much power as possible. The rights of the individual were prominent also. The Democratic Party also wanted territorial expansion for the United States. Democrats believed in agriculture as the heart of the economy.
The Whig Party was the other political organization during the era of Jackson that was formed during 1834 in opposition to the Democratic party and President Andrew Jackson. They saw Jackson as too similar to a king. It pulled together from the remains of the National Republican and Anti-Masonic parties. This was intriguing to entrepreneurs, planters, reformers, and the middle class. Leaders of the Whig Party included Henry Clay, William Harrison, Daniel Webster, and Horace