AMERICAN POLITICS AND POLITICAL

PARTIES.

WH

WHILE the words Tory and Whig were used in the colonies of England upon this side of the sea, at a period long anterior to the War of the Revolution, they expressed diverse shades of opinion as to questions in issue in the mother country, rather than a fixed relation of sentiment towards such matters of local government as the crown permitted to its American subjects. But as the long-gathering contest gained in intensity, and the popular voice was raised in more earnest protest against the aggressions of the king and parliament, the party names that had been borne so lightly gained a deeper meaning, and the party lines that had been so loosely drawn became walls of division, showing where the patriot stood in defence of his people, and where the supporter of the crown remained steadfast to the ancient order of things. The passage of the Stamp act in 1765 widened the breach between the two parties, and made the Whigs even more pronounced than before in their defence of the rights of the people; while the Tories were almost limited to that class who held office under the crown, or were in expectation of benefit or advancement by its favor. The name “American Whig" made its appearance in New York as early as 1768; and as the tide set in with more resistless force toward the crowning declaration of July 4, 1776, this name became synonymous with that of patriot, while that of Tory took on an odium only to be measured by the fierce and rebellious spirit of the times. As the Tory could be only an enemy to the revolution while denouncing it at a time when the questions in issue were being tried by the supreme appeal to arms, he was treated as such when the new flag was recognized among the nations. The leaders in his party were banished and their estates confiscated, and the Whigs