<p>Political Parties in 1850s Name: USS10 Block:</p><p>Main Idea: In the mid-1850s, the issue of slavery and other factors split political parties and led to the birth of new ones.</p><p>Old Political Parties</p><p>Whigs - Gen. Winfield Scott Democrats – Franklin Pierce</p><p>Nativism  Belief favoring native-born Americans over immigrants</p><p>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”</p><p>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.</p><p>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</p><p>Whigs had dissolved – they split into other parties</p><p>Republican Democrat Know-Nothing John C. Fremont James Buchanan Millard Fillmore (Former Whig President)</p><p>Results:</p><p>Buchanan: 45% popular vote (won the entire south except Maryland) Fremont: 33% (carried 11 of 16 free states) Fillmore: 22%</p>