WHIGS vs. DEMOCRATS

Slavery, Freedom, crisis Union 1840-1877 Democracy America: The Whigs Democrats Many Americans half nineteenth century a powerful federal government a threat individual liberty supported sovereignty state local government.

Slavery, freedom, and the crisis of the Union 1840-1877: Considering economic policies and the balance of power between national and local government, how did Whigs and Democrats differ in their definitions of American freedom and its relationship to government authority? Use two examples from both the Democrats and Whigs to support your claims.

Ever since the birth of America, two competing strains of thought ran through the American consciousness. The first was the Jeffersonian idea that the government which governed best, governed least and that a relatively weak central government was a facilitator of liberty. The contrasting Hamiltonian notion stressed that a strong federal government was required to protect individual liberties and the state as a whole. These tensions...
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