The Old Parties: Whigs and Democrats

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As early as the Mexican-American War, members of the Whig Party had clashed over the future of slavery in annexed Mexican lands. By 1852, the Whig Party could please its proslavery southern wing or its antislavery northern wing, but not both. The Whigs’ miserable showing in the election of 1852 made it clear that they were no longer a strong national party. By 1856, after more than two decades of contesting the Democrats, they were hardly a party at all (Map 14.4).

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Figure false: MAP 14.4 Political Realignment, 1848–1860
Figure false: In 1848, slavery and sectionalism began taking their toll on the country’s party system. The Whig Party was an early casualty. By 1860, national parties — those that contended for votes in both the North and the South — had been replaced by regional parties.
Figure false: MAP ACTIVITY
Figure false: READING THE MAP: Which states did the Democrats pick up in 1852 compared with 1848? Which of these states did the Democrats lose in 1856? Compare the general geographic location of the states won by the Republicans in 1856 with those won in 1860.
Figure false: CONNECTIONS: In the 1860 election, which party benefited the most from the western and midwestern states added to the Union since 1848? Why do you think these states chose to back this party?

CHAPTER LOCATOR

Why did the acquisition of land from Mexico contribute to sectional tensions?

What factors helped unravel the balance between slave and free states?

How did the party system change in the 1850s?

Why did northern fear of the “Slave Power” intensify in the 1850s?

Why did some southern states secede immediately after Lincoln’s election?

Conclusion: Why did political compromise fail?

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The collapse of the Whig Party left the Democrats as the country’s only national party. Popular sovereignty provided a doctrine that many Democrats could support. Even so, popular sovereignty very nearly undid the party. When Stephen Douglas applied the doctrine to the part of the Louisiana Purchase where slavery had been barred, he divided northern Democrats and destroyed the dominance of the Democratic Party in the free states. After 1854, the Democrats were a southern-dominated party. Still, gains in the South more than balanced Democratic losses in the North, and during the 1850s Democrats elected two presidents and won majorities in Congress in almost every election.

The breakup of the Whigs and the disaffection of many northern Democrats set millions of Americans politically adrift. As they searched for new political harbors, Americans found that the death of the old party system created a multitude of fresh political alternatives.