their Democratic rivals, many Whigs held an aversion to party organization that was rooted in a traditional American wariness of political parties. Whig opposition to parties waned after the 1830s, but many leading Whigs, including Webster and John Quincy Adams, never fully gave up their independence in favor of a party label. The Whigs were also deeply committed to preventing executive tyranny, which they saw as an existential threat to republican self-government. Whig thought was typically rooted in evangelical Christianity, as expressed in the Second Great Awakening. Whigs linked moral progress and material progress— each needed the other. They supported Protestant religiosity and missions while being fearful of Catholics. Whigs believed that a higher stage of morality would be achieved when America brought wealth and opportunity to everyone. Colleges and public schools would promote upward social mobility, discouraging immorality and dissipation. The rapid business expansion was good, not the moral danger Democrats warned about. One Whig, Horace Mann, played a pivotal role in establishing a public school system in Massachusetts that would be emulated by most states. Whig policies The Whigs celebrated Clay's vision of the American System, which promoted rapid economic and industrial growth in the United States through support for a national bank, high tariffs, a distribution policy, and federal funding for infrastructure projects. After the Second Bank of the United States lost its federal charter in 1836, the Whigs favored the restoration of a national bank that could provide a uniform currency, ensure a consistent supply of credit, and attract private investors. Through high tariffs, Clay and other Whigs hoped to generate revenue and encourage the establishment of domestic manufacturing, thereby freeing the United States from dependence on foreign imports. High tariffs were also designed to prevent a negative balance of trade and prevent the flow of currency and credit from the country. Whigs generally opposed Democratic efforts to reduce federal land prices, implement a "preemption" policy that would allow squatters the right to purchase land before it came to auction and transfer ownership of western lands to the states. Instead, Whigs favored a "distribution" policy that would distribute revenues from federal land sales to the states; states could then invest that money in education, infrastructure projects, and other priorities. The Whigs supported federally-financed internal improvements on the belief that only the federal government could construct the transportation system necessary for uniting the country commercially and culturally.