History of American Political Parties, Part VII: The Birth of the Second American Party System Love him or hate him, Andrew Jackson is undoubtably one of the most influential and important presidents in American history.Jackson’s presidential victory in 1828 ushered in several major political parties shifts including the creation of a new party and the birth of the Second American Party System of Democrats and Whigs.Jackson, and the real mastermind behind the curtain, Martin Van Buren, created the new Democratic Party as a classical liberal Jeffersonian Party. Together Jackson and Van Buren planned to succeed where Jefferson had failed during his presidency, especially in his attempt to keep the federal government small. Jackson vetoed improvement projects like the National Road to keep spending low and went to war against the Second Bank of the U.S. until he successfully killed it – along with the nation’s economy. Jackson also fought banks in general, hating what today we call ‘predatory lending.’ He preferred hard currency like gold and silver to paper money loaned by banks.Jackson, on the other hand, acted much more like a modern president than others of his day. During the 19th century, Congress ran made the rules and set the policies; presidents very much took a back seat. The exceptions were Jackson, and later Lincoln. Jackson felt he should dominate government being that his position was the only one elected by the entire nation. He vetoed 11 bills in his presidency, more than the previous six presidents combined. Earlier presidents only used the veto if they felt a bill was unconstitutional; Jackson used his vetoing power if he simply disagreed with the bill.Jackson wielded so much power during his presidency that his enemies began calling him King Andrew. The nickname stuck and became the basis for the opposition party name that grew to challenge him. In 1833, the Opposition Party began referring to themselves as the Whig Party, a name taken from a British political party that once opposed King James I.At first, the party makeup was eclectic. The only requirement to join was hating Jackson. Its principal founders were an old Federalist lawyer from Boston, Daniel Webster; a classic conservative westerner from Kentucky, Henry Clay; and a state’s rights liberal from South Carolina, John C. Calhoun. Over time the party came to represent the classical conservative stance of what will be known as The American System, which called ...
