Kevin Linkletter

Student ID: 77706

Course #: GED232 - EARLY UNITED STATES HISTORY

Unit 3

Question #3 Explain how Whigs and Democrats differed on questions of slavery

and race.

The opinions of the Whigs and Democrats view towards slavery is completely different.

For instance, the Whigs history of Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln and William H. Seward

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opposed slavery with different passions. But the Southern Whigs and Northern Whigs were

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different because the south supported slavery but not to the extent of the Southern Democrats.

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The Democrats opinion is different than the Whigs because they insisted on slavery and are open
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about it due to their Jacksonian democracy. In the 19th century, they defended slavery in the

United States, and promoted its expansion into the West against northern Free Soil opposition.
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Both have different opinions and ways of expressing slavery.

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The Whig Party avoided taking any position on the issue of slavery and sought a

compromise from the North on this issue in exchange for the South’s support for the economic
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interests of the North. Northern Whigs, such as “Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, and William

H. Seward opposed slavery with varying degrees of enthusiasm”(ncpedia.org). In the 1830s,

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some Whig lawmakers headed by John Quincy Adams and Joshua Giddings fought for the right
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to petition Congress on slavery. Adams regarded it as a right guaranteed by the petition clause of

the First Amendment to the Constitution. However, when the Whig Party controlled Congress
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and the White House in the early 1840s, they also adopted a set of rules to prevent reading

abolitionist petitions. The Southern Whig Party supports slavery, but they never support Southern

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 extremists. Indeed, the Southern Whig Party opposes the rights of the country, Southern

nationalism and secession. However, in 1861, former Whigs in the South became leaders of the

Confederacy like Alexander Stephens, Robert Gubert, and Judah Benjamin.

Southern Democrats are Southern people who believe in Jackson's democracy. In the 19th

century, they defended slavery in the United States and promoted the expansion of slavery to the

West under the opposition of the free soil in the north. The southern Democrats thought “that

slavery was essential in order to grow as a country” (upenn.edu). Many people did not care that

they are stripping the rights away from slaves. Many people in the south looked down on slaves

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and people who weren’t slaves based on their race such as African American. For a black person

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in the south it’s difficult to live because of how harsh the views people have towards them.

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The opinions of the Whigs and Democrats view towards slavery is different depending on
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what region they live in. Such as in the north many oppose slavery but in the south many are in

favor of slavery. The Whig Party avoided taking any position on the issue of slavery and sought a
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compromise from the North on this issue in exchange for the South’s support for the economic
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interests of the North. Southern Democrats are Southern people who believe in Jackson's

democracy they thought that slavery was essential in order to grow as a country. Both of these
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groups have different means of expressing the use of slavery such as the Whigs in the north did

not support the use of slaves while the Whigs in the south were in favor of slavery but not to the
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extend of the southern Democrats. The southern Democrats were extremists in favor of slavery
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because they believed that this was the key to grow as a country.
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“NCpedia: NCpedia.” Link to NCpedia Main Page, www.ncpedia.org/anchor/whigs-and-

democrats.

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 “Slavery and the Democratic ConsciencePolitical Life in Jeffersonian America.” Slavery and the

Democratic Conscience | Padraig Riley, www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15439.html.

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