Introduction

A turning point in American political history occurred in 1828,when Andrew Jackson was elected over the incumbent John Quincy Adams. While democratic practices had been in ascendance since 1800, the year also saw the further unfolding of a democratic spirit in the United States. Supporters of Jackson called themselves Democrats or the Democracy, giving birth to the Democratic Party and thus inaugurating the Second Party System. The Second Party System existed in the United States from about 1828 to 1854. 

The American political system underwent fundamental change after 1820 under the rubric of Jacksonian democracy. While Jackson himself did not initiate the changes, he came to symbolize many of the changes that took place. For the first time, politics assumed a central role in voters' lives. Before then, deference to upper-class elites and general indifference often had characterized local politics across the country. The suffrage laws were not completely at fault; rather, few men were interested in politics before 1828, and fewer still voted or became engaged because politics did not seem important. 

Changes followed the psychological shock of the panic of 1819 and the 1828 election of Andrew Jackson, who had a charismatic personality and controversial policies. The 1828 election year was characterized by rising levels of voter interest as demonstrated by Election Day turnout, rallies, increasingly partisan newspapers, and a higher degree of voter loyalty to their party. By 1840, campaigns were increasingly characterized by appeals to the common man, with elections generating higher voter participation than they previously had. The democratization of American politics was well underway.

Major Players of the Second Party System

The major parties during this time included the Democratic Party, led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, assembled by Henry Clay from the National Republicans and other opponents of Jackson. Martin Van Buren, John C. Calhoun, James K. Polk, Lewis Cass, and Stephen Douglas are among the best known Democratic figures of this period. Prominent Whig politicians included Daniel Webster, William H. Seward, and Thurlow Weed. 

The Whig Party operated from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s and was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. In particular, the Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the presidency and favored a program of modernization and economic protectionism.

Minor parties included the Anti-Masonic Party, which was an important innovator from 1827 to 1834 and flourished in only those states with a weak second party; the abolitionist Liberty Party of the 1840s; and the antislavery Free Soil Party, active in the 1848 and 1852 elections. The Second Party System reflected and shaped the political, social, economic, and cultural currents of the Jacksonian Era until succeeded by the Third Party System in 1854.

Patterns

According to historian Richard P. McCormick, who is is well-known for his scholarship on the Second Party System, the framework was formed over a 15-year period that varied by state, and it was produced by leaders trying to win the presidency with contenders building their own national coalitions. Regional effects strongly influenced its developments, with the Adams forces strongest in New England, for example, and the Jacksonians strongest in the Southwest.

This period marked the first time two-party politics were extended to the South and West, both of which had previously been one-party regions. The Second Party System was also the first, and remains the only, party system in which the two major parties remained on about equal footing in every region. The same two parties appeared in every state and contested both electoral votes and state offices. Because of this regional balance, the Second Party System was vulnerable to region-specific issues such as slavery.