The Reemergence of the Two Party System

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The debate over the extent of States’ Rights is one other component to the rise of two parties in the 1820s. The Democrats were firm believers in states’ rights and thought that the states should have more power instead of the federal government, which is what the Whigs believed in. The Whigs wanted a national bank to be controlled by the national government so that all currency could be regulated by the federal government while the Democrats believed that a national bank gave too much power to the government. Instead, Democrats wanted local banks that controlled the regulation of money at their bank only. The constant struggle between states’ rights believers and those that want a strong central government is clearly shown when John Quincy Adams loses a fight with Georgia over an agreement that they made with a representative of an Indian Tribe. Georgia entered an arrangement with one Indian tribe, not all and when Adams heard about this ordeal, he could not stand for it and tried to refuse the agreement. Georgia threatened violence and won a nullification over the federal government. The states’ rights argument has strong ties in sectionalism. The Northeast was where the majority of people believed in a strong federal government while the South and West wanted stronger states’ rights. This affected many of the decisions debated about during the 19th Century. For instance, in 1830 there was a debate between Daniel Webster and Robert Hayne over whether to limit the sale and survey of Western lands. Hayne stated that the Northeast was too powerful and took advantage of the South and the West. Webster brought the debate to the next level by telling Hayne to talk about his beliefs on the union, essentially making the debate over states’ rights. The issue of states’ rights is one other factor that contributed to the reemergence of the two party system.

Two Parties were established once again between 1820 and 1860 due to economic issues, political personalities, and states’ rights debates. The Whigs and the Democrats formed their separate parties due to differences in opinion that surfaced during the 1820s when the election of 1824 occurred and each of the four candidates that were in the ballot were part of the same party, but with different opinions. This two party system has existed ever since and has become a strong one party system after the reestablishment of two parties with the election of 1828.