Question

Compare and contrast the Democratic Party and the Whig Party of the 1830s and 1840s. Focus on two of the following: the role of federal government in the economy, social reform, westward expansion.

Answer 1

The Whig Party, which eventually transformed in many ways into the Republican Party of Lincoln, was far more in favor of limiting immigration and having a slightly more interventionist central government than the Democrats, who were more focused to maintaining the institution of slavery.