234 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS Quincy Adams s administration the new division of parties into Whigs and Democrats began to grow up, the Whigs favoring internal improve ments, the national bank, and a high tariff on im portations, while the Democrats opposed all such measures on the ground that they were incom patible with a strict construction of the constitu tion. In its relation to such questions Mr. Adams s administration was Whig, and thus arrayed against itself not only all the southern planters, but also the ship-owners of New England and the importers of New York. But a new and powerful tendency now came in to overwhelm such an administration as that of Adams. The so-called "spoils system" was already germinating, and the time had come when it could be put into operation. Mr. Adams would have nothing to say to such a system. He would not reward the men who worked for him, and he would not remove from office the men who most vigorously opposed him. He stood on his merits, asked no favors and granted none; and was, on the whole, the most independent president we have had since Washington. Jackson and his friends promised their supporters a share in the govern ment offices, in which a "clean sweep" was to be made by turning out the present incumbents. The result of the election of 1828 showed that for the time Jackson s method was altogether the more
