The purpose of this study was to determine, record, and interpret the history of the Whig political party in Indiana from 1834 through 1843. Emphasis was placed on the history of the administrations of Whig governors Noah Noble, David Wallace, and Samuel Bigger and the Nineteenth through the Twenty-seventh General Assemblies. Those Whigs who were the elected members of the executive and legislative branches of Indiana government were the principals of the study.These subject Whigs were analyzed and characterized in terms of (1) geographic origin, (2) age, (3) ancestry, (4) formal education, (5) religious preference, (6) military service, and (7) occupation. The philosophical basis for Whiggery in Indiana was considered an important element in the study.Findings1. These Whigs were a comparatively youthful and nomadic group coming from allareas of what was then the United States but principally from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, and Virginia.2. Virtually all were native to the United States with an ancestry traceable to northern and western Europe.3. Little formal education was found beyond the common school except among those who were professionals.4. Whigs dominated the executive and legislative branches during the period studied and were frequently elected officers in the Indiana Militia.5. Much diversification existed in Whig vocation, occupation, and profession. Whigs universally had undertaken numerous economic pursuits.6. Nearly all were Protestant; however, only a minority were associated with institutionalized religious groups. Religious persuasion was little related to Whig political success.7. Philosophically Whigs stood with national doctrine but, within Indiana, only local and state matters were of concern to them.Conclusions1. The Indiana Whigs differed little from Democrat or other political or economic groups within the state. They were not solely Federalist or neo-Federalist or Jeffersonian in practice.2. They were strivers who were bourgeois in their attitudes, but who gave no indication of having achieved economic or social success before coming to Indiana. They represented no organized social or economic group and were not members of an aristocracy.3. The Whigs were popular individuals who were deemed capable of best implementing an internal improvements program within the state. The Whig party rose and declined on that issue.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/176646 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Hasselbrinck, William R. |
| Contributors | Hoover, Dwight W. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 4, v, 225 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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