During the period between 1844 and the Civil War, the issue of slavery had a major impact on all politics through the events it created. Some such events are the Compromise of 1850, the Election 1852, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Lincoln-Douglass Debates, and the Election of 1860. The impacts of these events were great on the political parties of the Whigs, Republicans and Free-Soilers.
The greatest impact of slavery on the Whigs party took place on the last few years of its existence. The Compromise of 1850, which was the solution to the conflict of having California being accepted as a free state, caused the first major split in the party. It split the party into two parts, the Conscious Whigs and the Cotton Whigs. Although the official standpoint of the Whig party was to support the Compromise of 1850, the Conscious Whigs opposed the Compromise of 1850 because of the new stricter fugitive slave laws and the Cotton Whigs was for the Compromise of the 1850 because of the new stricter fugitive slave laws.
Photograph of Stephen A. Douglas taken between 185...
"An Available Candidate: The One Qualification for...
Republican Party Election Day Watcher Ribbon, 1904This separation within the party expanded through the Election of 1852. Virginian Winfield Scott was nominated as the Whig candidate for president. The Conscious Whigs supported him fully; however, the Cotton Whigs saw him as weak in enforcing the Compromise of 1850. This caused the Cotton Whigs to oppose the party candidate and voted for the Democratic candidate, Pierce. Lastly, the Kansas-Nebraska Act would completely destroy the Whig party. The outbreak of the popular sovereignty the party either merged with the Democratic Party or created a new party, the Republicans.
The Republican Party was greatly influenced by the issues of slavery. It was created from the fall of the Whig Party, which fell apart because of slavery. The Lincoln-Douglass Debates...