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87-577: National Community Church held its first Sunday service on January 7, 1996. During the first nine months of 1996, average attendance at Sunday services was between 20 and 25 people. At the time, all meetings were at the Joshua R. Giddings school in southeast Washington, DC, but the school was closed due to fire code violations. NCC found a new home in the AMC Theatres at Union Station , holding its first services there on November 17, 1996. A second Sunday service

174-401: A Select Committee on Slavery, devoted to driving that institution to extinction by any parliamentary and political means, legitimate or otherwise. Not being an official committee, they met their operating expenses out of their own pockets. The expenses included the board and keep of Theodore Dwight Weld , the prominent Abolitionist lecturer, who researched and helped prepare the speeches by which

261-746: A Sunday evening service at the GALA Hispanic Theatre in Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C. and a regular Sunday service in Potomac Yard in Virginia. In 2011, NCC purchased a century-old theater on Barracks Row in Capitol Hill, which was originally known as Meader's Theater and had been home to the People's Church since 1962. In March 2011, NCC's congregation totaled around 2,000, and the theater became

348-577: A candidate of the Opposition Party , and finally as a Republican . From 1838 until 1843, his district included the city of Youngstown. From 1843 to 1853, the boundaries were shifted northwest to include Cleveland and Youngstown was subtracted from his constituency; from 1853, Cleveland was again swapped for Youngstown. For the start of the 1841 session Giddings and some of his colleagues, Seth M. Gates of New York, William Slade of Vermont, Sherlock J. Andrews of Ohio, and others, constituted themselves

435-612: A collection of his correspondence and memoirs. "The collection consists primarily of memoirs of Joshua R. Giddings. Also included are family correspondence (mainly between father and daughter Laura Giddings), journal entries by the elder Giddings, diaries of Laura, photographs, and a biography of Giddings by his daughter." Whig Party (United States) Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other The Whig Party

522-539: A contest for a seat in the House of Representatives, in any Congress. The House abandoned any thought of disciplining Giddings, and his colleagues on the Select Committee on Slavery discovered that his impunity extended to them. With increasing anti-slavery agitation, the House repealed its "gag rule" three years later on December 3, 1844. Giddings' daughter Lura Maria, an active Garrisonian , convinced her father to attend

609-522: A direct successor to that party, and many Whig leaders, including Henry Clay, had aligned with the rival Democratic-Republican Party . In the 1836 presidential election , four different Whig candidates received electoral votes , but the party failed to defeat Jackson's chosen successor, Martin Van Buren . Whig nominee William Henry Harrison unseated Van Buren in the 1840 presidential election but died one month into his term. Harrison's successor, John Tyler,

696-582: A firm stance on slavery , but Northern Whigs tended to be less supportive than their Democratic counterparts. The Whigs emerged in the 1830s in opposition to President Andrew Jackson , pulling together former members of the National Republican Party , the Anti-Masonic Party , and disaffected Democrats. The Whigs had some weak links to the defunct Federalist Party , but the Whig Party was not

783-554: A former Democrat, broke with the Whigs in 1841 after clashing with Clay and other party leaders over economic policies such as the re-establishment of a national bank . Clay clinched his party's nomination in the 1844 presidential election but was defeated by Democrat James K. Polk , who subsequently presided over the Mexican–American War . Whig nominee Zachary Taylor won the 1848 presidential election , but Taylor died in 1850 and

870-578: A joint resolution providing for the annexation of Texas, and Texas subsequently became a state in 1845. Following the annexation of Texas, Polk began preparations for a potential war with Mexico , which still regarded Texas as a part of its republic and contended that Texas's true southern border was the Nueces River rather than the Rio Grande . After a skirmish known as the Thornton Affair broke out on

957-601: A powerful ally. Giddings found an early opportunity to attack slavery when on February 9, 1841, he delivered a speech upon the Seminole War in Florida, insisting that it was waged in the interest of slavery. In the Creole case of 1841, American slaves had revolted and forced the brig Creole into Nassau, Bahamas , where they gained freedom as Britain had abolished slavery in its territories in 1834. Southern slaveholders argued for

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1044-406: A pre-recorded video to present sermons in both locations on Sundays. In 2005, NCC began making its sermons available online via podcast. In March 2006, after investing a few million dollars to renovate an abandoned building a few blocks from Union Station, NCC opened Ebenezer's, a coffeehouse serving fair trade and organic coffee, with church offices located on the top floor and an event space in

1131-464: A recognition of slavery as a national institution. His statements in the Creole case attracted particular attention, as he had violated the House's gag rule barring antislavery petitions. The U.S. government attempted to recover the slaves from the Creole , initiating an international scuffle with Britain. Daniel Webster , then U.S. Secretary of State under President John Tyler , asserted that as

1218-655: A separate proposal which included the admission of California as a free state, the cession by Texas of some of its northern and western territorial claims in return for debt relief, the establishment of New Mexico and Utah territories, a ban on the importation of slaves into the District of Columbia for sale, and a more stringent fugitive slave law. Taylor died in July 1850 and was succeeded by Vice President Fillmore. In contrast to John Tyler, Fillmore's legitimacy and authority as president were widely accepted by members of Congress and

1305-518: A strict constructionist view of the Constitution , while Clay and Adams favored high tariffs and the national bank; regionalism played a central role, with Jackson strongest in the West. Jackson won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote in the 1824 election, but not a majority. The House of Representatives had to decide. Speaker Clay supported Adams, who was elected as president by the House, and Clay

1392-545: A treaty with Mexico. Democratic Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania offered an amendment known as the Wilmot Proviso , which would ban slavery in any newly acquired lands. The Wilmot Proviso passed the House with the support of both Northern Whigs and Northern Democrats, breaking the typical pattern of partisan division in congressional votes, but it was defeated in the Senate. Nonetheless, clear divisions remained between

1479-504: A victory for the people against an elitist institution. Jackson won another decisive victory in the 1832 presidential election , taking 55 percent of the national popular vote and 88 percent of the popular vote in the slavery states south of Kentucky and Maryland. Clay's defeat discredited the National Republican Party, encouraging those opposed to Jackson to seek to create a more effective opposition party. Jackson, by 1832,

1566-633: Is buried at Oakdale Cemetery in Jefferson, Ohio . Joshua R. Giddings Elementary School in Washington, DC was constructed in 1887 and named in his honor. It closed in the 1990s and now is a sports club and gym. His law office in Jefferson, Ohio has been preserved as a National Historic Landmark . A life-size bronze depiction of Giddings is featured inside the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument . The Indiana State Library has

1653-404: Is noted as a leading abolitionist of his era. He was censured in 1842 for violating the gag rule against discussing slavery in the House of Representatives when he proposed a number of Resolutions against federal support for the coastwise slave trade , in relation to the Creole case . He quickly resigned, but was overwhelmingly re-elected by his Ohio constituents in a special election to fill

1740-581: The Assemblies of God USA and the Willow Creek Association . Joshua R. Giddings Joshua Reed Giddings (October 6, 1795 – May 27, 1864) was an American attorney, politician and abolitionist . He represented Northeast Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1838 to 1859. He was at first a member of the Whig Party and was later a Republican , helping found the party. Giddings

1827-709: The Compromise of 1850 , and the Kansas–Nebraska Act , all of which contributed to expansion of slavery in the West. Following the war with Mexico, Giddings cast the only ballot against a resolution of thanks to General Zachary Taylor . With increasing political activism related to slavery, Giddings shifted from the Whig party to the Free Soil Party , "which undoubtedly cost him a seat in the United States Senate", with

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1914-715: The Federalist Party , led by Alexander Hamilton , and the Democratic-Republican Party , led by Thomas Jefferson . After 1815, the Democratic-Republicans emerged as the sole major party at the national level but became increasingly polarized. A nationalist wing led by Henry Clay favored policies such as the Second Bank of the United States and the implementation of a protective tariff . A second group,

2001-573: The Hillcrest neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The building was renovated into a community center with a dance studio, basketball court, art center, computer lab, and recording studio, opening in 2017 as the "DC Dream Center." NCC celebrated Easter 2014 with 800 congregants at the historic Lincoln Theatre on U Street in Washington, D.C., where the church established a new weekly Sunday service. In April 2014, NCC had over 3,000 congregants attending services in seven locations. In late 2014, NCC purchased

2088-508: The King of Great Britain at the time of the American Revolution . Jackson's decision to remove government deposits from the national bank ended any possibility of a Webster-Jackson alliance and helped to solidify partisan lines. The removal of the deposits drew opposition from both pro-bank National Republicans and states' rights Southerners like Willie Person Mangum of North Carolina,

2175-589: The Navy Yard Car Barn , several blocks south of the Miracle Theatre on Barracks Row. The building was renovated and renamed Capital Turnaround, re-opening in 2021 with an 850-seat auditorium used for Sunday worship services. In 2023, NCC led an Easter sunrise service at the Lincoln Memorial , taking over a tradition that was started by Capital Church in 1979. National Community Church is affiliated with

2262-736: The Old Republicans , opposed these policies, favoring a strict interpretation of the Constitution and a weak federal government. In the 1824 presidential election , Speaker of the House Henry Clay , Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford , Secretary of State John Quincy Adams , and General Andrew Jackson all sought the presidency as members of the Democratic-Republican Party. Crawford favored state sovereignty and

2349-616: The Panic of 1837 struck the nation. Land prices plummeted, industries laid off employees, and banks failed. According to historian Daniel Walker Howe , the economic crisis of the late 1830s and early 1840s was the most severe recession in U.S. history until the Great Depression . Van Buren's economic response centered on establishing the Independent Treasury system, essentially a series of vaults that would hold government deposits. As

2436-546: The annexation of Texas his key priority. The annexation of Texas was widely viewed as a pro-slavery initiative as it would add another slave state to the union, and most leaders of both parties opposed opening the question of annexation in 1843 due to the fear of stoking the debate over slavery. Tyler was nonetheless determined to pursue annexation because he believed that the British conspired to abolish slavery in Texas and because he saw

2523-547: The "birth of the Whig Party" can be dated to Clay and his allies taking control of the Senate in December 1833. The National Republicans, including Clay and Webster, formed the core of the Whig Party, but many Anti-Masons like William H. Seward of New York and Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania also joined. Several prominent Democrats defected to the Whigs, including Mangum, former Attorney General John Berrien , and John Tyler of Virginia. The Whig Party's first significant action

2610-571: The Adams administration's nationalist agenda, becoming informally known as "Jacksonians". Due in part to the superior organization (by Martin Van Buren) of the Jacksonians, Jackson defeated Adams in the 1828 presidential election , taking 56 percent of the popular vote. Clay became the leader of the National Republican Party , which opposed President Jackson. By the early 1830s, the Jacksonians organized into

2697-492: The British. After 1814 Giddings was a schoolteacher . He married Laura Waters, daughter of a Connecticut emigrant, in 1819. One of their children, Grotius Reed Giddings (1834–1867), was Major of the 14th United States Infantry in the American Civil War. Giddings later read law with Elisha Whittlesey in preparation for a career as an attorney. He made some money through land speculation . In February 1821 Giddings

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2784-563: The Constitution. Giddings called the caning of Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate by an opponent a crime "against the most vital principles of the Constitution, against the Government itself, against the sovereignty of Massachusetts, against the people of the United States, against Christianity and civilization." Many of these views were reflected in his noted " American Infidelity " speech of 1858. Giddings often used violent language, and did not hesitate to encourage bloodshed. He talked about

2871-670: The NCC's central site, hosting multiple Sunday services and the Saturday afternoon taping of the sermon distributed to the other six locations and online. Over the next several years, the theater was renovated and in May 2016 it opened to the public as a movie theater and performance venue, named the "Miracle Theatre." In 2012, NCC entered into a partnership with a community organization, the Southeast White House, to buy an abandoned apartment building in

2958-541: The North, Democrats benefited from the growing animosity towards the Whig Party among Catholic and foreign-born voters. Ultimately, Polk won the election, taking 49.5% of the popular vote and a majority of the electoral vote; the swing of just over one percent of the vote in New York would have given Clay the victory. In the final weeks of Tyler's presidency, a small group of Southern Whigs joined with congressional Democrats to pass

3045-516: The Republican Party and enacted much of their American System. Presidents Abraham Lincoln , Rutherford B. Hayes , Chester A. Arthur , and Benjamin Harrison were Whigs before switching to the Republican Party, from which they were elected to office. It is considered the primary predecessor party of the modern-day Republicans . During the 1790s, the first major U.S. parties arose in the form of

3132-506: The Reserve was widely famous for its radicalism, Giddings may have been inspired in his first stirrings of passion for antislavery. Giddings first worked on his father's farm and, although he received no systematic education, devoted much time to study and reading. At 17 he joined a militia regiment for the War of 1812 . He served for five months, including battles against American Indian allies of

3219-498: The Treasury William M. Meredith issued a report calling for an increase in tariff rates, but not to the levels seen under the Tariff of 1842. Even Meredith's moderate policies were not adopted, and, partly due to the strong economic growth of the late 1840s and late 1850s, traditional Whig economic stances would increasingly lose their salience after 1848. When Taylor assumed office, the organization of state and territorial governments and

3306-464: The Whig Party due to his lack of public commitment to Whig policies and his association with the Mexican–American War. In late 1847, Clay emerged as Taylor's main opponent for the Whig nomination, appealing especially to Northern Whigs with his opposition to the war and the acquisition of new territory. With strong backing from slavery-state delegates, Taylor won the presidential nomination on

3393-519: The Whigs included a distrust of behind-the-scenes political maneuvering by party bosses instead of encouraging direct appeals to the people through gigantic rallies, parades, and rhetorical rabble-rousing. Early successes in various states made many Whigs optimistic about victory in 1836, but an improving economy bolstered Van Buren's standing ahead of the election. The Whigs also faced the difficulty of uniting former National Republicans, Anti-Masons, and states' rights Southerners around one candidate, and

3480-635: The Whigs opposing him. In 1854–55, he became one of the leading founders of the Republican party . Giddings campaigned for John C. Frémont and Abraham Lincoln , although Giddings and Lincoln disagreed over the uses of extremism in the anti-slavery movement . Before the Civil War, he helped support the Underground Railroad to help fugitive slaves reach freedom. He was widely known (and condemned by some) for his egalitarian racial beliefs and actions. On

3567-572: The basement. Ebenezer's has been recognized as one of the best coffeehouses in DC. The basement of Ebenezer's became the regular venue for a Saturday worship service and the live taping of weekly sermons. The church expanded to movie theaters in Georgetown and Kingstowne, Virginia , and Sunday services were held at Ebenezer's when the movie theater at Union Station abruptly closed in October 2009. In 2010, NCC began

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3654-521: The debate over the Independent Treasury continued, William Cabell Rives and some other Democrats who favored a more activist government defected to the Whig Party, while Calhoun and his followers joined the Democratic Party. Whig leaders agreed to hold the party's first national convention in December 1839 in order to select the Whig presidential nominee. By early 1838, Clay had emerged as

3741-497: The declaration of war against Mexico and also pushed through the restoration of the Independent Treasury System and a bill that reduced tariffs; opposition to the passage of these Democratic policies helped to reunify and reinvigorate the Whigs. In August 1846, Polk asked Congress to appropriate $ 2 million (~$ 60.7 million in 2023) in hopes of using that money as a down payment for the purchase of California in

3828-533: The disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan in 1826. The Anti-Masonic movement, strongest in the Northeast, gave rise to or expanded the use of many innovations which became an accepted practice among other parties, including nominating conventions and party newspapers. Clay rejected overtures from the Anti-Masonic Party, and his attempt to convince Calhoun to serve as his running mate failed, leaving

3915-426: The economy. They argued that traditional Whig policies, such as the restoration of a national bank and the implementation of protective tariff rates, would help to restore the economy. With the economy still in a downturn, Harrison decisively defeated Van Buren, taking a wide majority of the electoral vote and just under 53 percent of the popular vote. With the election of the first Whig presidential administration in

4002-478: The eve of the war, a Virginia newspaper offered $ 10,000 for his seizure and shipment to Richmond , or $ 5,000 for his head alone. In 1859 he was not renominated by the Republican Party to Congress. Giddings retired from Congress after a continuous service of more than twenty years. In 1861 he was appointed by Lincoln as U.S. consul general in Canada , and served there until his death at Montreal on May 27, 1864. He

4089-532: The federal government to demand the return of the slaves or compensation. Giddings emphasized that slavery was a state institution, with which the Federal government had no authority to interfere; he noted that slavery only existed by specific state enactments. For that reason, he contended that slavery in the District of Columbia and in the Territories was unlawful and should be abolished, as these were administered by

4176-431: The federal government. Similarly, he argued that the coastwise slave trade in vessels flying the national flag, like the international slave trade, should be rigidly suppressed as unconstitutional, as the states had no authority to extend slavery to ships on the high seas, and the federal government had no separate interest in it. He also held that Congress had no power to pass any act that in any way could be construed as

4263-459: The fifth ballot of the 1839 Whig National Convention . For vice president, the Whigs nominated John Tyler, a former states' rights Democrat selected for the Whig ticket primarily because other Southern supporters of Clay refused to serve as Harrison's running mate. Log cabins and hard cider became the dominant symbols of the Whig campaign as the party sought to portray Harrison as a man of the people. The Whigs also assailed Van Buren's handling of

4350-490: The fourth ballot of the 1848 Whig National Convention . The Whigs nominated Millard Fillmore of New York, a pro-Clay Northerner, for vice president. Anti-slavery Northern Whigs disaffected with Taylor joined with Democratic supporters of Martin Van Buren and some members of the Liberty Party to found the new Free Soil Party ; the party nominated a ticket of Van Buren and Whig Charles Francis Adams Sr. and campaigned against

4437-401: The front-runner due to his southern support and spirited opposition to Van Buren's Independent Treasury. A recovering economy convinced other Whigs to support Harrison, who was generally seen as the Whig candidate best able to win over Democrats and new voters. With the crucial support of Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Thurlow Weed of New York, Harrison won the presidential nomination on

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4524-425: The issue as a means to reelection, either through the Democratic Party or through a new party. In April 1844, Secretary of State John C. Calhoun reached a treaty with Texas providing for the annexation of that country. Clay and Van Buren, the two front-runners for major-party presidential nominations in the 1844 election, both announced their opposition to annexation, and the Senate blocked the annexation treaty. To

4611-559: The issue of slavery more so than Democratic candidate Lewis Cass of Michigan. Ultimately, Taylor won the election with a majority of the electoral vote and a plurality of the popular vote. Taylor improved on Clay's 1844 performance in the South and benefited from the defection of many Democrats to Van Buren in the North. Reflecting the Taylor administration's desire to find a middle ground between traditional Whig and Democratic policies, Secretary of

4698-573: The justice of a slave insurrection and the duty of Northerners to fully support such an insurrection. He opposed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and advised escaping slaves to shoot at their potential captors. Giddings led the Congressional opposition by Free State politicians to any further expansion of slavery to the West. Accordingly, he condemned the annexation of Texas , the Mexican War ,

4785-442: The latter of whom accused Jackson of flouting the Constitution. In late 1833, Clay began to hold a series of dinners with opposition leaders to settle on a candidate to oppose Martin Van Buren , the likely Democratic nominee in the 1836 presidential election . While Jackson's opponents could not agree on a single presidential candidate, they coordinated in the Senate to oppose Jackson's initiatives. Historian Michael Holt writes that

4872-537: The legislation was unconstitutional. Congress passed a second bill based on an earlier proposal made by Treasury Secretary Ewing that was tailored to address Tyler's constitutional concerns, but Tyler vetoed that bill as well. In response, every Cabinet member but Webster resigned, and the Whig congressional caucus expelled Tyler from the party on September 13, 1841. The Whigs later began impeachment proceedings against Tyler, but they ultimately failed to impeach him because they believed his likely acquittal would devastate

4959-403: The meetings held by Garrison's followers, which heightened his anti-slavery position. William Lloyd Garrison was a spiritual as well as political leader. In the 1850s Giddings also adopted other progressive ideas, identifying with perfectionism, spiritualism, and religious radicalism. He claimed that his antislavery sentiments were based on a higher natural law , rather than just on the rights of

5046-411: The members excited public opinion against slavery at every opportunity. Their headquarters was in Mrs. Sprigg's boarding-house, directly in front of the Capitol, where Gates, Slade, Giddings, Weld, and the influential abolitionist minister Joshua Leavitt , lived during sessions of Congress; others gradually joined them. John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts was not a member of the committee, but acted as

5133-409: The new Democratic Party . Despite Jackson's decisive victory in the 1828 election, National Republicans initially believed that Jackson's party would collapse once Jackson took office. Vice President Calhoun split from the administration in 1831. Still, differences over the tariff prevented Calhoun's followers from joining the National Republicans. Meanwhile, the Anti-Masonic Party formed following

5220-439: The next ten years. In 1806 his parents Elizabeth (née Pease) and Joshua Giddings moved the family to Ashtabula County, Ohio , which was then sparsely settled. Here they settled on Ohio's Western Reserve , which "provided him with the occupational and social mobility so characteristic of the early nineteenth-century frontier ", where Giddings lived for most of the rest of his life. Many settlers from New England went there. As

5307-450: The northern side of the Rio Grande, Polk called on Congress to declare war against Mexico, arguing that Mexico had invaded American territory by crossing the Rio Grande. Many Whigs argued that Polk had provoked war with Mexico by sending a force under General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande, but only a minority of Whigs voted against the declaration of war as they feared that opposing the war would be politically unpopular. Polk received

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5394-412: The opposition to Jackson split among different leaders when the National Republicans nominated Clay for president. Hoping to make the national bank a key issue of the 1832 election, the National Republicans convinced national bank president Nicholas Biddle to request an extension of the national bank's charter, but their strategy backfired when Jackson successfully portrayed his veto of the recharter as

5481-440: The part of a state. For offering these resolutions, Giddings was attacked by numerous critics. The House formally censured him for violating the gag rule, and he was not permitted to speak in his own defense. He resigned, appealing to his constituents, who immediately reelected him by an overwhelming margin of 7,469 to 383 in the special election to fill his seat. That was the widest margin of victory that had ever been achieved in

5568-539: The partisan divisions that had emerged after 1824, as many within the Jacksonian coalition opposed President Jackson's threats of force against South Carolina, while some opposition leaders like Daniel Webster supported them. The name "Whig" was first suggested for Jackson's opponents by James Watson Webb , editor of the Courier and Enquirer of New York City. In South Carolina and other states, those opposed to Jackson began to form small "Whig" parties. The Whig label implicitly compared "King Andrew" to King George III ,

5655-428: The party suffered an early blow when Calhoun announced that he would refuse to support any candidate opposed to the doctrine of nullification. Northern Whigs cast aside both Clay and Webster in favor of General William Henry Harrison , a former senator who had led U.S. forces in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe . Though he had not previously been affiliated with the National Republicans, Harrison indicated that he shared

5742-462: The party's concerns over Jackson's executive power and favored federal investments in infrastructure. Southern Whigs coalesced around Senator Hugh Lawson White , a long-time Jackson ally who opposed Van Buren's candidacy. Ultimately, Van Buren won a majority of the electoral and popular vote in the 1836 election, though the Whigs improved on Clay's 1832 performance in the South and West. Shortly after Van Buren took office, an economic crisis known as

5829-542: The party's history, Clay and his allies prepared to pass ambitious domestic policies such as the restoration of the national bank, the distribution of federal land sales revenue to the states, a national bankruptcy law, and increased tariff rates. Harrison died just one month into his term, thereby elevating Vice President Tyler to the presidency. Tyler had never accepted much of the Whig economic program and he soon clashed with Clay and other congressional Whigs. In August 1841, Tyler vetoed Clay's national bank bill, holding that

5916-422: The party. Beginning in mid-1842, Tyler increasingly began to court Democrats, appointing them to his Cabinet and other positions. At the same time, many Whig state organizations repudiated the Tyler administration and endorsed Clay as the party's candidate in the 1844 presidential election . After Webster resigned from the Cabinet in May 1843 following the conclusion of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty , Tyler made

6003-434: The passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act in 1854, with most Northern Whigs eventually joining the anti-slavery Republican Party and most Southern Whigs joining the nativist American Party and later the Constitutional Union Party . The last vestiges of the Whig Party faded away after the start of the American Civil War , but Whig ideas remained influential for decades. During the Lincoln Administration , ex-Whigs dominated

6090-400: The rule of law, protections against majority rule, and vigilance against executive tyranny. They favored an economic program known as the American System , which called for a protective tariff , federal subsidies for the construction of infrastructure, and support for a national bank . The party was active in both the Northern United States and the Southern United States and did not take

6177-437: The slaves were on an American ship, they were under the jurisdiction of the U.S., and by U.S. law they were property . On March 21, 1842, before the case was settled, Giddings introduced a series of resolutions in the House of Representatives. He asserted that in resuming their natural rights of personal liberty, the slaves violated no law of the U.S. He contended the U.S. should not try to recover them, as it should not take

6264-561: The spread of slavery into the territories. The Whig campaign in the North received a boost when Taylor released a public letter in which he stated that he favored Whig principles and would defer to Congress after taking office, thereby reassuring some wavering Whigs. During the campaign, Northern Whig leaders touted traditional Whig policies like support for infrastructure spending and increased tariff rates, but Southern Whigs largely eschewed economic policy, instead emphasizing that Taylor's status as an enslaver meant that he could be trusted on

6351-551: The status of slavery in the Mexican Cession remained the major issue facing Congress. To sidestep the issue of the Wilmot Proviso, the Taylor administration proposed that the lands of the Mexican Cession be admitted as states without first organizing territorial governments; thus, slavery in the area would be left to the discretion of state governments rather than the federal government. In January 1850, Senator Clay introduced

6438-517: The surprise of Clay and other Whigs, the 1844 Democratic National Convention rejected Van Buren in favor of James K. Polk and established a platform calling for the acquisition of both Texas and Oregon Country . Having won the presidential nomination at the 1844 Whig National Convention unopposed, Clay and other Whigs were initially confident that they would defeat the divided Democrats and their relatively obscure candidate. However, Southern voters responded to Polk's calls for annexation, while in

6525-454: The two parties on territorial acquisitions, as most Democrats joined Polk in seeking to acquire vast tracts of land from Mexico, but most Whigs opposed territorial growth. In February 1848, Mexican and U.S. negotiators reached the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which provided for the cession of Alta California and New Mexico. Despite Whig objections to the acquisition of Mexican territory, the treaty

6612-614: The vacant seat. He returned to the House and served a total of nearly twenty more years as representative. Giddings is one of the main reasons that the Western Reserve was, before the Civil War , one of the most anti-slavery regions of the country. Joshua Reed Giddings was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania at Tioga Point, now Athens , on October 6, 1795. His family moved that same year to Canandaigua, New York , where they spent

6699-503: Was admitted to the bar in Ohio. He soon built up a large practice, particularly in criminal cases. From 1831 to 1837 he was in partnership with Benjamin Wade , a future U.S. Senator . Influenced by Theodore Weld , the two formed the local antislavery society. Giddings and his friend Wade were both elected to Congress, where they were outspoken opponents of slavery throughout their careers. Wade

6786-619: Was a mid-19th century political party in the United States. Alongside the Democratic Party , it was one of two major parties between the late 1830s and the early 1850s and part of the Second Party System . As well as four Whig presidents ( William Henry Harrison , John Tyler , Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore ), other prominent members included Henry Clay , Daniel Webster , Rufus Choate , William Seward , John J. Crittenden , and John Quincy Adams . The Whig base of support

6873-711: Was added in February 2001 when the church grew to 275 weekly attendees. In an August 2001 article in the Washington Post, the congregation was described as "young" and "casually dressed," and Batterson remarked that the church was "right in the middle of the marketplace." In five years, the congregation at Union Station grew to over 500. NCC launched its second location in the Regal Entertainment Group theaters at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Virginia in 2003, using

6960-558: Was amongst entrepreneurs, professionals, Protestants (particularly evangelicals ), and the urban middle class . It had much less backing from poor farmers and unskilled workers. The party was hostile toward manifest destiny , territorial expansion into Texas and the Southwest , and the Mexican–American War . It disliked presidential power, as exhibited by Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk , and preferred congressional dominance in lawmaking. Members advocated modernization, meritocracy ,

7047-452: Was appointed Secretary of State. Jackson called it a "corrupt bargain". In the years following the 1824 election, former members of the Democratic-Republican Party split into hostile factions. Supporters of President Adams and Clay joined with many former Federalists such as Daniel Webster to form a group informally known as the "Adams party". Meanwhile, supporters of Jackson, Crawford, and Vice President John C. Calhoun joined in opposing

7134-657: Was determined to destroy the bank (the Second Bank of the United States), which Whigs supported. Shortly after Jackson's re-election, South Carolina passed a measure to " nullify " the Tariff of 1832 , beginning the Nullification Crisis . Jackson strongly denied the right of South Carolina to nullify federal law, but the crisis was resolved after Congress passed the Tariff of 1833 . The Nullification Crisis briefly scrambled

7221-559: Was elected president of the Senate during the Andrew Johnson administration . He would have succeeded to the presidency of the United States had one more senator voted for the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Giddings was first elected to the Ohio House of Representatives , serving one term from 1826 to 1827. The Panic of 1837 , in which Giddings lost a great deal of money, caused him to cease practicing law. He ran for federal office and

7308-473: Was elected to Congress, "with instructions to bring abolition into national focus in any way possible". Consistently re-elected to office, from December 1838 until March 1859, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , representing first Ohio's 16th district until 1843, and then Ohio's 20th district until 1859. Giddings ran first as a Whig , then as a Free-soiler , next as

7395-497: Was ratified with the support of a majority of the Democratic and Whig senators; Whigs voted for the treaty largely because ratification brought the war to an immediate end. During the war, Whig leaders like John J. Crittenden of Kentucky began to look to General Taylor as a presidential candidate, hoping the party could run on Taylor's personal popularity rather than economic issues. Taylor's candidacy faced significant resistance in

7482-412: Was succeeded by Millard Fillmore. Fillmore, Clay, Daniel Webster, and Democrat Stephen A. Douglas led the passage of the Compromise of 1850 , which helped to defuse sectional tensions in the aftermath of the Mexican–American War for a time. Nonetheless, the Whigs suffered a decisive defeat in the 1852 presidential election partly due to sectional divisions within the party. The Whigs collapsed following

7569-665: Was to censure Jackson for the removal of the national bank deposits, thereby establishing opposition to Jackson's executive power as the organizing principle of the new party. In doing so, the Whigs were able to shed the elitist image that had persistently hindered the National Republicans. Throughout 1834 and 1835, the Whigs successfully incorporated National Republican and Anti-Masonic state-level organizations and established new state party organizations in Southern states like North Carolina and Georgia. The Anti-Masonic heritage of

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