Michigan Political Parties: Whig Party
The Whig Party grew around groups opposed to the policies of president Andrew Jackson in the 1830s. In Michigan the party was led by William Woodbridge and others opposed to the government led by Stevens T. Mason. The party was usually in the minority in Michigan. The Whigs won only one gubernatorial election in the party's history, in 1839 when bad economic conditions led the voters to reject the Democrats. By the late 1840s the Whig Party nationally was splitting over the issue of slavery. In Michigan the Whigs and Free-Soil Party combined to nominate a single candidate for governor in 1849. By 1854 the Whig Party had disappeared from the scene, replaced by the Republican Party.
This party is documented in the papers of Peter Barbeau, George W. Germain, Darius Pierce, and the Woodbridge family.