The Union in Peril 319
nomination to Northern Whigs who opposed the
Fugitive Slave Act and gave only lukewarm sup-
port to the Compromise of 1850. Southern Whigs,
however, backed the compromise in order to
appear both proslavery and pro-Union. Because
of Scott’s position, the Whig vote in the South fell
from 50 percent in 1848, to 35 percent in 1852,
handing the election to the Democratic candi-
date Franklin Pierce.
In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act brought
about the demise of the Whigs, who once again
took opposing positions on legislation that
involved the issue of slavery. Unable to agree on a national platform, the Southern
faction splintered as its members looked for a proslavery, pro-Union party to join,
while Whigs in the North sought a political alternative.
NATIVISM
One alternative was the American Party which had its roots in a
secret organization known as the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner. Members of
this society believed in nativism, the favoring of native-born Americans over
immigrants. Using secret handshakes and passwords, members were told to
answer questions about their activities by saying, “I know nothing.” When
nativists formed the American Party in 1854, it soon became better known as the
Know-Nothing Party.
Primarily middle-class Protestants, nativists were dismayed not only at the
total number of new immigrants but also at the number of Catholics among
them. To nativists, the Catholic immigrants who had flooded into the country
during the 1830s and 1840s were overly influenced by the Pope and could form
a conspiracy to overthrow democracy.
While the Democratic Party courted immigrant voters, nativists voted for
Know-Nothing candidates. The Know-Nothing Party did surprisingly well at the
polls in 1854. However, like the Whig Party, the Know-Nothings split over the
issue of slavery in the territories. Southern Know-Nothings looked for another
alternative to the Democrats. Meanwhile, Northern Know-Nothings began to
edge toward the Republican Party.
Antislavery Parties Form
Two forerunners of the Republican Party had emerged during the 1840s. In 1844
the tiny abolitionist Liberty Party—whose purpose was to pursue the cause of abo-
lition by passing new laws—received only a small percentage of votes in the pres-
idential election. Yet the Liberty Party won enough votes to throw the election to
Democrat James K. Polk instead of Whig candidate Henry Clay.
In 1848 the Free-Soil Party, which opposed the extension of slavery into
the territories, nominated former Democratic president Martin Van Buren.
Although the Free-Soil Party failed to win any electoral votes in 1848, it received
10 percent of the popular vote, thus sending a clear message: even if some
Northerners did not favor abolition, they definitely opposed the extension of
slavery into the territories.
THE FREE–SOILERS
Many Northerners were Free-Soilers without being aboli-
tionists. A number of Northern Free-Soilers supported laws prohibiting black set-
tlement in their communities and denying blacks the right to vote. Free-Soilers
objected to slavery’s impact on free white workers in the wage-based labor force,
upon which the North depended. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison considered
the Free-Soil Party “a sign of discontent with things political . . . reaching for
something better. . . . It is a party for keeping Free Soil and not for setting men free.”
The 1854
campaign banner
for the Know-
Nothing Party
reflects its
members’ fear
and resentment
of immigrants.
▼
A
MAIN IDEA
MAIN IDEA
A
Analyzing
Causes
What impact
did the slavery
issue have on the
Democratic and
Whig parties?
A. Answer The
slavery issue
had caused a
split in the Whig
Party; the
Democratic
Party was
scarred.
