Collapse of the Second Party System
1. Second Party System circa 1837 - 1852 |
2. Whig Party Splits North - South |
3, Northern Whigs Split into Conscience and Cotton Whigs |
4. Democrats Split into Anti-Slavery (Barn Burners) and War Demos |
5. Southern Whigs & Cotton Whigs defect to Democratic Party |
6. Conscience Whigs and Anti-Slavery Democrats defect to FSP |
7. Fusion parties further break-down the system early 1850s |
8. 1854: Birth of the Third Party System and the Republican Party |