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National Republican Party History: The Demise of the Democratic-Republican Party
John Quincy Adams was the last president of the Democratic-Republican Party and his presidency spanned from 1825-1829. What caused the formation of the National Republican party? It was formed when the Democratic-Republicans split into two political parties during the John Quincy Adams presidency, at first over the issue of national defense. The first group consisted of Democratic-Republicans organized by Martin Van Buren and led by Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson's Democratic-Republican supporters dropped the word "Republican" from their name and simply called themselves Democrats. The second group of Democratic-Republicans, led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, adopted National Republicans as their name.

National Republican Party History: When was the National Republican Party established?
The National Republican Party was established when John Quincy Adams overwhelmingly lost the 1828 presidential election and Andrew Jackson was elected President.  The supporters of Henry Clay went into opposition and the use of the term "National Republican Party" dates from this time.

National Republican Party Beliefs and National Republican Party Platform
The National Republican Party was a coalition of different groups who were united in their opposition to President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats. This coalition of factions that formed the National Republican Party included supporters of John Quincy Adams, advocates of States' Rights, supporters of the old Federalists and a strong National government, supporters of the Henry Clay American System, the Nullifiers (refer to the Nullification Crisis), and the Anti-Masons who strongly opposed Freemasonry. The National Republican Party therefore consisted of many groups with differing ideas but the main National Republican Party platform and beliefs were based on the following:

• Support of the American System

  • A National Bank

  • A federally-funded national transportation system consisting of new roads and canals

  • Protective Tariffs

• Opposition to the growth of executive power under the Jackson administration and the growth of the Spoils System

National Republican Party Leaders
Who were the leaders of the National Republican Party? The early leaders of the National Republican Party were John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John Sergeant.

National Republican Party Convention of 1831
After Andrew Jackson's election in 1828, party structures strengthened, and the idea of national political conventions grew in popularity. At this period of American politics there had been political conventions held at the state level, but no national conventions had been organized. The National Republican Party held their national convention in Baltimore, Maryland on December 12, 1831 and chose Henry Clay to oppose Andrew Jackson in the 1832 presidential election and chose John Sergeant for the vice presidency. The main issue of the 1832 presidential campaign was President Jackson's veto to re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.

National Republican Party: 1832 Presidential Election
Henry Clay was badly beaten in the 1832 presidential election. The voters continued to back the popular Andrew Jackson - the National Republican Party had failed to make an impact on the electors.

The National Republican Party becomes the Whig Party
The defeat of Henry Clay was an enormous blow to the National Republicans. They gathered support from the other political groups who opposed Jackson including the moral reformers, the nullifiers and the anti-masons. The National Republican Party completely changed their name to the Whig Party which would become a major and successful political party and the election of four future Whig presidents.

National Republican Party - Video of the US Presidents
The article on the History of the Nat. Republican Party provides a fast overview of the history of the US Government. The following Presidents of the USA video enables you to sit back and listen to the history of all the Presidents of the USA - a useful educational resource for kids, children and schools that complements the information found in the History of the National Republican Party.