Political Parties in 1850S

Political Parties in 1850s Name: USS10 Block:

Main Idea: In the mid-1850s, the issue of slavery and other factors split political parties and led to the birth of new ones.

Old Political Parties

Whigs - Gen. Winfield Scott Democrats – Franklin Pierce

Nativism  Belief favoring native-born Americans over immigrants

Know-Nothing Party  Anti-immigration politicians formed the American Party  Used secret handshakes and passwords; members were told to answer questions by saying “I know nothing”  Eventually became known as the “Know-Nothing Party”

Anti-Slavery Parties Form Free Soil Party (formed 1848)  Opposed the extension of slavery into the territories  Not anti-slavery, most Free-Soilers were simply against the spread of slavery, but still opposed blacks’ right to vote and other equal opportunities.

Republican Party  Free-Soilers + Anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats = Republican Party o Founded 1854 in schoolhouse in Ripon, WI  Opposed spread of slavery, against the Kansas-Nebraska Act  Events and issues of the mid-1850s made the Republican Party a strong force 1856 Election

Whigs had dissolved – they split into other parties

Republican Democrat Know-Nothing John C. Fremont James Buchanan Millard Fillmore (Former Whig President)

Results:

Buchanan: 45% popular vote (won the entire south except Maryland) Fremont: 33% (carried 11 of 16 free states) Fillmore: 22%