A Whig was a member of an American political party in the 19th century that wanted to limit the powers of the President. a member of a British political party of the 18th and early 19th centuries which wanted to limit royal power, and later became the Liberal Party (Whiggamore (17-20 centuries), probably from whig + more ). Member of a political faction in England, particularly in the 18th century. Originally a term for Scottish Presbyterians, the name came to imply nonconformity and rebellion and was applied in 1679 to those who wanted to exclude James, the Catholic duke of York (later James II), from succession to the throne of England. The Whigs were opposed by the Tory faction in that struggle but later represented the aristocratic, landowning families and financial interests of the wealthy middle classes. They maintained power through patronage and connections in Parliament, but there was no distinct party until 1784, when Charles James Fox represented the interests of religious dissenters, industrialists, and others who sought parliamentary reform. After 1815 and following various party realignments, the political group became the Liberal Party
One of the political party in the United States from about 1829 to 1856, opposed in politics to the Democratic party
Those who supported the king in his high claims were called Tories, and the advocates of popular rights, of parliamentary power over the crown, and of toleration to Dissenters, were, after 1679, called Whigs
The terms Liberal and Radical have now generally superseded Whig in English politics
a member of the Whig Party in the United States in pre-Civil-War times a supporter of the American Revolution urged social reform in 19th century England
(1834-54) U.S. political party. Organized by opponents of Pres. Andrew Jackson, whom they called "King Andrew," the party took its name from the British antimonarchist party. The U.S. Whigs favoured a program of national development. Jackson's opposition to the Second Bank of the United States (see Bank War) and nullification in South Carolina allowed Henry Clay to bring fiscal conservatives and southern states' rights proponents together in a coalition with those who still believed in the National Republican program of a protective tariff and federally financed internal improvements. The party also included members of the former Anti-Masonic Party. The Whig's candidate, William H. Harrison, won the 1840 presidential election and the party captured Congress, but Harrison's premature death halted enactment of the Whig program (his vice president and successor, John Tyler, vetoed much of the Whig's agenda). Clay was the party's unsuccessful candidate in the 1844 election. In 1848 it nominated Zachary Taylor, who won the presidency. The party began to split into the "conscience" (antislavery) and "cotton" (proslavery) Whigs and was further divided by the Compromise of 1850. Its nominee in the 1852 election, Winfield Scott, failed to win wide support as most Southern Whigs joined the Democratic Party. In 1854 most Northern Whigs joined the new Republican Party, though some joined the Know-Nothing Party
a former political party in the United States; formed in 1834 in opposition to the Democratic Party; advocated a loose interpretation of the Constitution and high protective tariffs