WHIG 



G267 



WHIPPLE 



American colonies the name was first adopted 

 by those who opposed the efforts of the Crown 

 to annul their political and commercial privi- 

 leges. It is believed to have been first used in 

 New York in 1768, and before the Revolution 

 broke out was practically synonymous with 

 patriot one who was in favor of declaring in- 

 dependence while the term Tory was applied 

 to a Loyalist. 



After the Revolution new issues were a ba- 

 sis for new party names, and the terms Whig 

 and Tory disappeared for several decades. In 

 1834 the term Whig was first mentioned as a 

 suitable name for the party which was oppos- 

 ing Jackson, the "usurper of executive power." 

 Besides the Clay-Webster-Adams Republicans, 

 the new party drew much of its strength from 

 factions which Jackson's high-handed proceed- 

 ings had offended, notably the defenders of 

 states' rights and the Anti-Masons. From the 

 first it was composed of elements which had 

 little or nothing in common, and after twenty 

 years, when the questions of slavery and seces- 

 sion could no longer be compromised, these 

 elements, by their own weight, separated again. 



The party was not sufficiently organized in 

 1836 to hold a national convention, but Wil- 

 liam Henry Harrison, who had been nominated 

 by several local conventions, was a candidate 

 on his personal popularity. Webster and two 

 other Whigs were also candidates, but the com- 

 bined vote of the four did not equal that for 

 Martin Van Buren. In 1840, again with no 

 platform, Harrison was successful in one of the 

 most picturesque campaigns in the history of 

 the United States, with its slogan of "Tippeca- 

 noe and Tyler, too." Harrison's early death 

 was a blow to the Whigs, for Tyler turned out 

 to be more of a Democrat and his opposition 

 weakened the party. 



In 1844 the Whigs nominated their real 

 leader, Henry Clay, and for the first time 

 adopted a platform which contained an enun- 

 ion of principles protective tariff, w. 11- 

 regulatnl national currency, a single term for 

 tli. I'n-i'lmt. ami thr construction of inter- 

 nil improvements with money received from 

 tli. s;il c of public lands. Clay's refusal to take 

 sides on the Texas question, though it saved 

 him many Southern votes, cost him the votes 

 "t the Northern antislavery Whigs. This disa- 

 greement on principles led to the nomination 

 of Zachary Taylor in 1848, a successful attempt 

 nceal issues un<I> T th< personal popularity 

 >l the candidate. In 1852, however, the nomi- 

 n at ion of General Winfield Scott, another sol- 



dier hero, was of no avail, and Franklin Pierce 

 was overwhelmingly elected. The Kansas-Ne- 

 braska Bill of 1854 broke up the Whig party, 

 most of the Northern Whigs joining the new 

 Republican party, the Southern returning to 

 the Democratic party. In 1856 a Whig con- 

 vention endorsed Fillmore, the Know-Nothing 

 candidate for the Presidency, and in 1860 the 

 remnants of the Whigs were included in the 

 Constitutional Union party. This, however, 

 was the last stand, and thereafter all traces of 

 the Whig party are lost. wj.z. 



Consult McK. Ormsby's History of the Whig 

 Party; McKee's National Convention* and Plat- 

 forms of All Parties. 



Related Subject*. The following articles in 

 these volumes will make clear the references In 

 the above discussion : 

 Constitutional Union Republican Party 



Party Tory 



Know-Nothings United Empire Loyalists 



Liberal Party 

 Political Parties, subhead History of Political 



Parties in the United States 



WHIPPLE, HENRY BENJAMIN (1822-1901), 

 an American bishop of the Protestant Episco- 

 pal Church, notable for his services, educational 

 and religious, among the American Indians of 

 the Northwest. So thoroughly did they accept 

 him and believe in him that they gave him the 

 name of "Straight Tongue," than which there 

 are few higher compliments. He was born in 

 Adams, N. Y., was compelled to give up his 

 idea of a college education on account of ill 

 health, and went into business. In 1847, hav- 

 ing received private instruction in theological 

 studies, he was ordained to the ministry and 

 became rector of Zion Church, in Rome, N. Y. 

 Removing in 1857 to Chicago, he was for two 

 years rector of the Church of the Holy Com- 

 munion, and at the end of that time was con- 

 secrated bishop of Minnesota. 



Bishop Whipple was thrown into relations 

 with the Indians, and his labors for them were 

 unceasing; he established several missions 

 which did much toward their civilization. His 

 knowlt .IKC of Indian character and motives was 

 widely recognized, and he was more than once 

 of assistance to the government in its dealings 

 with the red mm. In Whipple for the second 

 time in the history of the United State* 

 country had an "apostle to the Indians/' John 

 Eliot having earned that distinction 200 years 

 earlier. His autobiography, Lights and Shad- 

 ows of a Long Episcopate, is a work of great 

 int. rest, and it gives much valuable informa- 

 tion about the Indians. 



