Editing Whig Party (United States) (section)

== Collapse ==

{{Further|Presidency of Franklin Pierce|History of the United States Republican Party#Beginnings|Third Party System}}

Despite their decisive loss in the 1852 elections, most Whig leaders believed the party could recover during the Pierce presidency in much the same way that it had recovered under President Polk.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 763–764.</ref> However, the strong economy still prevented the Whig economic program from regaining salience, and the party failed to develop an effective platform on which to campaign.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 776–777.</ref> The debate over the 1854 [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]], which effectively repealed the [[Missouri Compromise]] by allowing slavery in territories north of the 36°30′ parallel, shook up traditional partisan alignments.<ref name="holt804805">Holt (1999), pp. 804–805, 809–810.</ref>

Across the Northern states, opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act gave rise to anti-Nebraska coalitions consisting of Democrats focused on this opposition along with Free Soilers and Whigs. In Michigan and Wisconsin, these two coalitions labeled themselves as the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], but similar groups in other states initially took on different names.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 841–842.</ref> Like their Free Soil predecessors, Republican leaders generally did not call for the abolition of slavery but instead sought to prevent the extension of slavery into the territories.<ref>McPherson (1988), p. 129.</ref>

Another political coalition appeared in the form of the nativist and anti-Catholic [[Know Nothing]] movement, which eventually organized itself into the American Party.<ref name="holt804805"/> Both the Republican Party and the Know-Nothings portrayed themselves as the natural Whig heirs in the battle against Democratic executive tyranny, but the Republicans focused on the "[[Slave Power]]" and the Know-Nothings focused on the supposed danger of mass immigration and a Catholic conspiracy. While the Republican Party almost exclusively appealed to Northerners, the Know-Nothings gathered many adherents in both the North and South; some individuals joined both groups even while they remained part of the Whig Party or the Democratic Party.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 843–846.</ref>

Congressional Democrats suffered huge losses in [[1854–55 United States House of Representatives elections|the mid-term elections of 1854]], as voters supported a wide array of new parties opposed to the Democratic Party.<ref>McPherson (1988), pp. 129–130.</ref> Though several successful congressional candidates had campaigned only as Whigs, most congressional candidates who were unaffiliated with the Democratic Party had campaigned either independently of the Whig Party or in collusion with another party.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 877–878.</ref> As cooperation between Northern and Southern Whigs increasingly appeared impossible, leaders from both sections continued to abandon the party.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 907–910.</ref> Though he did not share the nativist views of the Know-Nothings, in 1855, Fillmore became a member of the Know-Nothing movement and encouraged his Whig followers to join as well.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 911–913.</ref> In September 1855, Seward led his faction of Whigs into the Republican Party, effectively marking the end of the Whig Party as an independent and significant political force.<ref name="holt947949">Holt (1999), pp. 947–949.</ref> Thus, the [[1856 United States presidential election|1856 presidential election]] became a three-sided contest between Democrats, Know-Nothings, and Republicans.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 961–962.</ref>

The [[1856 American National Convention|Know Nothing National Convention]] nominated Fillmore for president, but disagreements over the party platform's stance on slavery caused many Northern Know-Nothings to abandon the party.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 963–965.</ref> Meanwhile, the [[1856 Republican National Convention]] chose [[John C. Frémont]] as the party's presidential candidate.<ref>Gara (1991), pp. 168–174.</ref> The defection of many Northern Know-Nothings, combined with the [[caning of Charles Sumner]] and other events that stoked sectional tensions, bolstered Republicans throughout the North.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 966–967.</ref> During his campaign, Fillmore minimized the issue of nativism, instead of attempting to use his campaign as a platform for unionism and a revival of the Whig Party.<ref>Gara (1991), pp. 175–176.</ref>

Seeking to rally support from Whigs who had yet to join another party, Fillmore and his allies organized the sparsely-attended [[1856 Whig National Convention]], which nominated Fillmore for president.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 976–978.</ref> Ultimately, Democrat [[James Buchanan]] won the election with a majority of the electoral vote and 45 percent of the popular vote; Frémont won most of the remaining electoral votes and took 33 percent of the popular vote, while Fillmore won 22 percent of the popular vote and just eight electoral votes. Fillmore largely retained Taylor and Scott voters in the South, but most former Whigs in the North voted for Frémont rather than Fillmore.<ref>Holt (1999), pp. 978–980.</ref>

Fillmore's American Party collapsed after the 1856 election, and many former Whigs who refused to join the Democratic Party or the Republican Party organized themselves into a loose coalition known as the [[Opposition Party (Southern U.S.)|Opposition Party]].<ref>Parks (1950), p. 346</ref> For the [[1860 United States presidential election|1860 presidential election]], Senator [[John J. Crittenden]] and other unionist conservatives formed the [[Constitutional Union Party (United States)|Constitutional Union Party]].<ref>Green (2007), pp. 232–233</ref> The party nominated a ticket consisting of John Bell, a long-time Whig senator, and Edward Everett, who had succeeded Daniel Webster as Fillmore's Secretary of State.<ref name="green234236">Green (2007), pp. 234–236</ref> With the nomination of two former Whigs, many regarded the Constitutional Union Party as a continuation of the Whig Party; one Southern newspaper called the new party the "ghost of the old Whig Party".<ref>Egerton (2010), pp. 99–100</ref>

The party campaigned on preserving the union and took an official non-stance on slavery.<ref name="green237238">Green (2007), pp. 237–238</ref> The Constitutional Union ticket won a plurality of the vote in three states, but Bell finished in fourth place in the national popular vote behind Republican [[Abraham Lincoln]], Democrat [[Stephen A. Douglas]], and pro-Southern Democrat [[John C. Breckinridge]].<ref>Green (2007), p. 251</ref> In the North, most former Whigs, including the vast majority of those who had voted for Fillmore in 1856, voted for Lincoln in 1860.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 980</ref>

In the secession crisis that followed Lincoln's election, Southern Democrats generally led secession efforts, while Southern former Whigs generally opposed immediate secession.<ref>Holt (1999), p. 984</ref> During the [[American Civil War]], former Whigs formed the core of a "proto-party" in the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] that was opposed to the [[Jefferson Davis]] administration.<ref>McPherson (1988), p. 691</ref> In the [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction Era]], many former Whigs tried to regroup in the South, calling themselves "conservatives" and hoping to reconnect with ex-Whigs in the North. Thus, in Virginia and elsewhere, moderate, nationalist, and economically innovative ex-Whigs used the party name "Conservative" to avoid identifying with the Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jack P. Maddex Jr. |title=The Virginia Conservatives, 1867–1879: A Study in Reconstruction Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kfZjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT13 |year=2018 |publisher=U of North Carolina Press |page=13|isbn=978-1469648101 }}</ref> The Conservative Party ultimately merged into the Democratic Party in the South, but ex-Whigs continued to promote modernization policies such as large-scale railroad construction and the founding of public schools.<ref name="Alexander 1961"/>{{page needed|date=August 2019}}

The Whig Party vanished after the 1850s, but Whiggism, as a modernizing policy orientation, persisted for decades.<ref>The last elected politician as a Whig was [[Robert Miller Patton]], who was the 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1865 to 1868.</ref> It played a major role in shaping the modernizing policies of the state governments during [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]].<ref name="Alexander 1961">Alexander (1961).</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2019}} During the [[presidency of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln Administration]], ex-Whigs dominated the Republican Party and enacted much of their American System. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, [[Rutherford B. Hayes]], [[Chester A. Arthur]], and [[Benjamin Harrison]] were Whigs before switching to the Republican Party, from which they were elected to office. In the long run, the United States adopted Whiggish economic policies coupled with a Democratic strong presidency.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JDjrCQAAQBAJ&pg=PR2-IA593 |title=Guide to U.S. Elections |last=Kalb |first=Deborah |date=2015|publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-4833-8038-4 |language=en}}</ref>