WK5, Day 2 - "The Second Party System Breaks Down & a Third Party System Arises / Events from 1854-1856"

February 11, 2025

Reflect on yesterday’s notes. What was the main problem plaguing the nation?

Will slavery expand out west?

Reflect on yesterday’s notes. What happened to the Second Party System and the Whigs?

It died; the Whig Party was replaced with the Republican Party.

Reflect on yesterday’s notes. Why did Southern states start to secede from the Union?

Abraham Lincoln became President in 1860

Who sponsored the Democratic Party from the 1830s-1848?

Henry Clay & John Calhoun

What’s an example of national coalitions?

people all across the US united to advocate for a specific cause or issue at the national level

What were Democratic Northerners like? What about Democratic Southerners?

Northerners were merchants & factory workers, Southerners were slaveowners & small farmers

What were Whig Northerners like? What about Whig Southerners?

Northerners were rich & poor, Southerners were slaveowners & small farmers

What was the 2.5-Year Shift during 1854-1856? Hint: North & South started voting for specific parties.

Voters started forming regional coalitions, not national ones

Regardless of their financial status, which political party did a majority of Northerners vote for?

Republican

Regardless of their financial status, which political party did a majority of Southerners vote for?

Democrat

What were the 2nd PS 3rd Party Options?

Liberty Party (1841) & Free Soil Party (1848)

How did Democrats want to deal with the issue of slavery’s expansion out west?

popular sovereignty

How did Republicans want to deal with the issue of slavery’s expansion out west?

They adopted some of Liberty Party & Free Soil Party’s ideas and wanted no slavery out west

What were people of the American Party against?

Immigrants

When did the American Party emerge?

1856

What was the American Party’s nickname?

The “Know-Nothing Party”

What did the American Party do that no other third political party had ever done before?

They won some EC votes

Which political party did Stephen Douglas represent?

Democratic

What was Stephen Douglas’ nickname?

The “Little Giant”

Douglas supported the idea that that US was destined to expand westward across North America all the way to the Pacific Ocean. What’s the name of this belief? What new form of transportation did Douglas want added in the US?

Manifest Destiny, Transcontinental Railroad

Where was Stephen Douglas from?

Illinois

What new act did Stephen Douglas propose to settle both territories with popular sovereignty?

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

When did the Whig Party die?

1854-1855

What’s the names of the two groups the Northern and Southern Whigs split into?

Conscious Whigs vs Cotton Whigs

When the Whig Party died, which new party began to rise in its place?

The Republican Party

In Kansas, what did Northern abolitionists call themselves? What did Southern fighters call themselves?

free staters, border ruffians

The fighting in Kansas between Northerners and Southerners went on to be known as…?

Bleeding Kansas

Who do some historians describe Bleeding Kansas as a canary for the Civil War?

It predicted the Civil War

Which political party did James Buchanan represent? Where was he from?

Democratic, Pennsylvania

What was James Buchanan’s views on slavery?

he was pro-slavery

Which political party did John C. Frémont represent? Why did this party select him as a candidate?

Republicans, he was a ‘war hero’ from the Mexican American War

Who was a representative of the Know-Nothing Party? Why did he represent them?

Former President Millard Fillmore, he had name recognition

What was the main goal of the Know-Nothing Party?

To stop European immigration (Italian, Polish)

How many popular votes did Democratic candidate James Buchanan get?

1.8 million

How many popular votes did Republican candidate John Frémont get?

1.3 million

How many popular votes did Millard Fillmore get as a 3rd Party candidate?

800,000