Second-party system in the 1800s

Differences between political parties, during around the time James Monroe was president in 1817, was not a problem. The Era of Good Feelings, as it was called, was a time when there was a single-party system. This was so, because the Federalist party was no longer a national party and the only national party that remained was the Democratic Republicans. The Democratic-Republicans diverged into two different parties, the Democrats and the Whigs. The cause of this …

…unavoidable for the party not to split because one national party could not possibly represent every American; this was shown through the animosity toward Jackson. The Whigs formed, at first as a party against Jackson. The Democrats, already an established party with Jackson and Van Buren in office, the Whigs had their chance in 1840. Once the election was won the Whigs were now a national party as well, and thus the second-party system had resurfaced.