The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry in the United States. It was active from the late 1820s, especially in the Northeast, and later attempted to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. It declined quickly after 1832 as most members joined the new Whig Party; it disappeared after 1838.
William Morgan, whose disappearance and probable murder led to creation of the Anti-Masonic Party
Thurlow Weed, newspaper editor who helped form the Anti-Masonic Party
Solomon Southwick, newspaper publisher and 1828 Anti-Masonic candidate for Governor of New York
Former Mason William Wirt won Vermont's Electoral College votes in the 1832 presidential election for the Anti-Masonic Party
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party that existed in the United States during the mid-19th century. Alongside the slightly larger Democratic Party, it was one of the two major parties in the United States between the late 1830s and the early 1850s as part of the Second Party System. Four presidents were affiliated with the Whig Party for at least part of their terms. Other prominent members of the Whig Party include Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Rufus Choate, William Seward, John J. Crittenden, and John Quincy Adams. The Whig base of support was centered among entrepreneurs, professionals, planters, social reformers, devout Protestants, and the emerging urban middle class. It had much less backing from poor farmers and unskilled workers.
Henry Clay, a founder of the Whig Party in the 1830s and its 1844 presidential nominee
Daniel Webster, a leading Whig from New England
William Henry Harrison, a two-time presidential candidate who became the first Whig president in 1841 but died just one month into office
Zachary Taylor served in the Mexican–American War and later won the 1848 presidential election as the Whig nominee.