Whig Party (United States)
Whig thought

Whig thought was typically rooted in evangelical Christianity, as expressed in the Second Great Awakening. Many Whigs would argue that the Bible was the best of Western civilization. Whigs linked moral progress and material progress—each needed the other. They supported Protestant religiosity and missions while being fearful of Catholics. Whigs believed that a higher stage of morality would be achieved when America brought wealth and opportunity to everyone. Whigs would then promote voluntary associations like churches, temperance societies, and schools. Participating in these kinds of societies made the Whigs think that people would become more virtuous. The Whigs believed the rapid business expansion was good with a focus on voluntary associations, not the moral danger Democrats warned about. This optimism for the future (when compared with the Democrat's pessimism, seeing the rising middle class as an affront to the traditional working-class man) is what the historian Joseph W. Pearson notes as the starting difference between both the Whigs and the Democrat's economic views.
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