View source for National Republican Party

{{Short description|American political party}}
{{hatnote group|
{{redirect|National Republican|the former newspaper|National Republican (newspaper)||National Republican Party (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Republican Party (United States){{!}}Republican Party|National Union Party (United States){{!}}National Union Party|Democratic-Republican Party}}
}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode        = {{party color|National Republican Party (United States)}}
| name             = National Republican Party
| lang1            = Other
| name_lang1       = Adams–Clay Republicans<br />Adams's Men<br />Anti-Jacksonians
| leader           = [[John Quincy Adams]]<br />[[Henry Clay]]
| foundation       = {{start date and age|1824}}
| dissolution      = {{end date and age|1834}}
| split            = [[Democratic-Republican Party]]
| predecessor      = [[Democratic-Republican Party]]<br />[[Federalist Party]]
| merged           = [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]]
| national         = [[Democratic-Republican Party]] ([[1824 United States presidential election|1824]])
| ideology         = {{ubl|[[American School (economics)|American School]]|Anti-[[Jacksonian Democracy|Jacksonianism]]|[[Traditionalist conservatism]]|[[Economic nationalism]]<ref>{{cite book | title=The rise and fall of the American Whig Party : Jacksonian politics and the onset of the Civil War | date=2003 | isbn=978-0-19-516104-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/risefallofameric0000holt_y0w0/mode/1up?q=economic+nationalism }}</ref>|[[Classical liberalism]]<ref>{{cite web|title= John Quincy Adams on the war we are in|url=https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/john-quincy-adams-on-the-war-we-are-in/|access-date=9 November 2024|date=|publisher=Richard Samuelson|website=Claremont review of books|quote= Long before Samuel Huntington, Adams understood our modern “clash of civilizations.” Adams believed that history had set the liberal West on a collision course with the Islamic East. In Adams’s day, as in ours, many sophisticated Europeans thought that the two civilizations ought to compromise their differences in the name of peace. Unfortunately, Adams found, compromise was not always possible. As then constituted, Islamic civilization would not accept Western notions of liberty, equality, and progress, and for that reason the West had to fight to defend both its principles and its interests.}}</ref><br />[[Conservative liberalism]]<ref>{{Cite web | title=One moment, please... | url=https://ciceroniansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PIETAS_FALL_2023_02_SYCK_Conservative_Liberalism_Adams_Slavery_Freedom.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240420162138/https://ciceroniansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PIETAS_FALL_2023_02_SYCK_Conservative_Liberalism_Adams_Slavery_Freedom.pdf | access-date=2025-07-29 | archive-date=2024-04-20}}</ref><br />[[Liberal nationalism]]<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-656?d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780199329175.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780199329175-e-656&p=emailAmRdSg5W9gOLc | doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.656 | chapter=John Quincy Adams: Architect of American Empire | title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History | date=2020 | last1=Woods | first1=Randall | isbn=978-0-19-932917-5 }}</ref><br />[[Christian nationalism]]<ref>https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/john-quincy-adams-on-the-war-we-are-in/d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780199329175.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780199329175-e-656&p=emailAmRdSg5W9gOLc{{Dead link | date=July 2025 | fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><br />[[Conservatism]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2017/10/conservatism-john-quincy-adams-sean-mattie-timeless.html | title=The Conservatism of John Quincy Adams | date=16 October 2017 }}</ref><br />[[Liberalism]]{{refn|<ref>{{cite web | title=John Quincy Adams Amongst the Postliberals | url=https://mereorthodoxy.com/john-quincy-adams-amongst-the-postliberals }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/npsa/npsa22/index.php?program_focus=view_paper&selected_paper_id=1999340&cmd=online_program_direct_link&sub_action=online_program | title=Towards A Communitarian Liberalism: John Quincy Adams, Slavery, and the Meaning of Freedom | website=convention2.allacademic.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=The Lincoln Persuasion | chapter=Eight. John Quincy Adams | date=1994 | pages=191–221 | doi=10.1515/9781400863617.191 | isbn=978-1-4008-6361-7 | chapter-url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781400863617.191/pdf?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOoqf-YBu4d6AgNscM4xOwyNIALfNkRcUZLITVG1PzzVlEXIV8YXJ }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-napoleonica-la-revue-2015-3-page-61?lang=fr | doi=10.3917/napo.024.0061 | title=John Quincy Adams: American eyewitness of the Hundred Days | date=2015 | last1=Chew Iii | first1=William L. | journal=Napoleonica la Revue | volume=24 | issue=3 | pages=61–109 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>}}}}
| country          = the United States
}}
{{Conservatism US|parties}}
The '''National Republican Party''', also known as the '''Anti-Jacksonian Party''' or simply '''Republicans''',<ref>{{cite news |title=State Journal - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=AyW1NBs4p6IC&dat=18371012&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=15 January 2021 |work=news.google.com |volume=III|issue=6 |publisher=E. Lawrence |date=Oct 12, 1837}}</ref> was a [[Political parties in the United States|political party in the United States]] which evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] that supported [[John Quincy Adams]] in the [[1824 United States presidential election|1824 presidential election]].

Known initially as '''[[John Quincy Adams|Adams]]–[[Henry Clay|Clay]] Republicans''' in the wake of the 1824 campaign, Adams's political allies in Congress and at the state-level were referred to as "Adams's Men" during [[Presidency of John Quincy Adams|his presidency]] (1825–1829). When [[Andrew Jackson]] became [[President of the United States|president]], following his victory over Adams in the [[1828 United States presidential election|1828 election]], this group became the [[Opposition (politics)|opposition]], and organized themselves as "Anti-Jackson". The use of the term "National Republican" dates from 1830.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

[[Henry Clay]] was the party's nominee in the [[1832 United States presidential election|1832 election]], but was defeated by Jackson. The party supported Clay's [[American System (economic plan)|American System]] of nationally financed [[internal improvements]] and a protective [[tariffs in United States history|tariff]]. After the 1832 election, opponents of Jackson, including the National Republicans, [[Anti-Masonic Party|Anti-Masons]] and others, coalesced into the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]].

== History ==
{{Further|Presidency of John Quincy Adams#Formation of political parties|Second Party System}}

Before the election of John Quincy Adams to the presidency in 1825, the [[Democratic-Republican Party]], which had been the only national American political party for over a decade, began to fracture, losing its infrastructure and identity. Its caucuses no longer met to select candidates because now they had separate interests. After the 1824 election, factions developed in support of Adams and in support of Andrew Jackson. Adams politicians, including most ex-[[Federalist Party|Federalists]] (such as [[Daniel Webster]] and Adams himself), would gradually become members of the National Republican Party; and those politicians that supported Jackson would later help form the modern [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]].

After Adams's defeat in the 1828 election, his supporters regrouped around Henry Clay. Now the "anti-Jackson" opposition, they soon organized as the National Republican Party. Led by Clay, the new party maintained its historic nationalistic outlook and desired to use national resources to build a strong economy. Its platform was Clay's [[American System (economic plan)|American System]] of nationally financed [[internal improvements]] and a protective tariff, which would promote faster economic development. More important, by binding together the diverse interests of the different regions, the party intended to promote national unity and harmony. 

Historians refer to the National Republican Party, but the term Anti-Jackson was frequently used at the time. For instance in 1830, [[Alexander McIlhenny]] recorded in his diary, "May 29th: I attended the Anti Jackson meeting at Sultzers in [[Taneytown Historic District|Taney Town]]. Addressed a few words to the meeting."<ref>{{cite journal |last=n.a. |date=April 2003 |title=From the Diary of A. McIlhenny January 19, 1830 to February 7, 1831, Copied from the Original by Jane C. Sween, Annotations by Patricia A. Andersen |journal=Western Maryland Genealogy |location=Damascus, Maryland |publisher=GenLaw Resources |volume=30 |issue=2–3 |pages=105–146 |issn=0747-7805 |oclc=10807414 |ref={{harvid|Andersen|2003}}}}</ref>{{Rp|page=130}}

The National Republicans saw the Union as a corporate, organic whole. Hence, the rank and file idealized Clay for his comprehensive perspective on the national interest. Conversely, they disdained those they identified as "party" politicians for [[pandering (politics)|pandering]] to local interests at the expense of the national interest.<ref>{{cite book|first=Thomas|last=Brown|year=1985|title=Politics and Statesmanship: Essays on the American Whig Party|location=New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231056021|oclc=906445960|page=20}}</ref> The party met in [[1831 National Republican National Convention|national convention]] in late 1831 and nominated Clay for the presidency and [[John Sergeant (politician)|John Sergeant]] for the vice presidency.

===Formation of the Whig Party===
{{Further|Presidency of Andrew Jackson#Rise of the Whig Party}}

The [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]] emerged in 1833–1834 after Clay's defeat as a coalition of National Republicans, along with [[Anti-Masonic Party|Anti-Masons]], disaffected Jacksonians and people whose last political activity had been with the Federalists a decade before. In the short term, the Whig Party formed with the help of other smaller parties in a coalition against President Jackson and his reforms.

== National Republican presidents ==
[[John Quincy Adams]] was the only president to come from the National Republican Party.
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!style="text-align:center;"|<abbr title="Order of presidency">#</abbr>
!style="text-align:center;"|Name (lifespan)
!style="text-align:center;"|Portrait
!style="text-align:center;"|State
!style="text-align:center;"|Presidency<br />start date
!style="text-align:center;"|Presidency<br />end date
!style="text-align:center;"|Time in office
|- style="text-align:left;"
|6
|{{sortname|John Quincy|Adams}} (1767–1848)
|[[File:JQA Photo Crop (3x4 cropped).jpg|65px]]
|[[Massachusetts]]
|[[Inauguration of John Quincy Adams|March 4, 1825]]
|[[Inauguration of Andrew Jackson|March 4, 1829]]
|{{ayd|1825|3|4|1829|3|4}}
|}

== Electoral history ==
=== Presidential tickets ===
{{Further|List of United States National Republican and Whig Party presidential tickets}}

{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! rowspan=2 | Election
! colspan=2 | Ticket
! Popular vote
! colspan=2 | [[United States Electoral College|Electoral vote]]

|-
! Presidential nominee
! Running mate
! Percentage
! class=unsortable | Electoral votes
! Ranking

|-
| align="center" | [[1828 United States presidential election|1828]]
| [[John Quincy Adams]]
| [[Richard Rush]]
| align="center" | 44.0
| {{composition bar|83|261|hex={{party color|National Republican Party (United States)}}}}
| 2

|-
| align="center" | [[1832 United States presidential election|1832]]
| [[Henry Clay]]
| [[John Sergeant (politician)|John Sergeant]]
| align="center" | 37.4
| {{composition bar|49|286|hex={{party color|National Republican Party (United States)}}}}
| 2
|}

=== Congressional representation ===
{{see also|Party divisions of United States Congresses}}

{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|- valign=bottom
! rowspan=2 | Congress
! rowspan=2 | Years
! rowspan=11 | 
! colspan=5 | Senate<ref>{{cite web |title=Party Division |url=https://www.senate.gov/history/partydiv.htm |website=United States Senate}}</ref>
! rowspan=11 | 
! colspan=5 | House of Representatives<ref>{{cite web |title=Party Divisions of the House of Representatives, 1789 to Present |url=https://history.house.gov/Institution/Party-Divisions/Party-Divisions/ |website=United States House of Representatives}}</ref>
! rowspan=11 | 
! rowspan=2 | President

|- valign=bottom
! Total
! {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Pro-Jackson
! {{Party shading/National Republican}} | Pro-Adams
! Others
! Vacancies
! Total
! {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Pro-Jackson
! {{Party shading/National Republican}} | Pro-Adams
! Others
! Vacancies

|-
| [[19th United States Congress|19th]]
| 1825–1827
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 48
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''26'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 22
| —
| —
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 213
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 104
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | '''109'''
| —
| —
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} rowspan=2 | [[John Quincy Adams]]<ref>Adams won election as a Democratic-Republican, but he sought re-election as a National Republican.</ref>

|-
| [[20th United States Congress|20th]]
| 1827–1829
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 48
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''27'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 21
| —
| —
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 213
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''113'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 100
| —
| —

|- valign=bottom
! Congress
! Years
! Total
! {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Pro-Jackson
! {{Party shading/National Republican}} | Anti-Jackson
! Others
! Vacancies
! Total
! {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Pro-Jackson
! {{Party shading/National Republican}} | Anti-Jackson
! Others
! Vacancies
! President

|-
| [[21st United States Congress|21st]]
| 1829–1831
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 48
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''25'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 23
| —
| —
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 213
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''136'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 72
| 5
| —
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} rowspan=4 | [[Andrew Jackson]]

|-
| [[22nd United States Congress|22nd]]
| 1831–1833
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 48
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''24'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 22
| 2
| —
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 213
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''126'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 66
| 21
| —

|-
| [[23rd United States Congress|23rd]]
| 1833–1835
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 48
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 20
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | '''26'''
| 2
| —
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 240
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''143'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 63
| 34
| —

|-
| [[24th United States Congress|24th]]
| 1835–1837
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 52
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''26'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 24
| 2
| —
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | 242
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | '''143'''
| {{Party shading/National Republican}} | 75
| 24
| —

|}

== See also ==
* [[Era of Good Feelings]]
* [[Second Party System]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Michael F. Holt. ''The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War''. New York. Oxford University Press. 1999.
* Carroll, E. Malcolm. ''Origins of the Whig Party''. Durham, NC. Duke University Press. 1925.
* Robert V. Remini. ''Henry Clay: A Statesman for the Union''. New York. W. W. Norton and Co. 1992.

{{Whig Party (United States)}}
{{United States political parties}}
{{John Quincy Adams}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1824 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1834 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1824]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1834]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in the United States|National Republican]]