THIRD PARTY SYSTEM RECAP!

When the Whig Party split over slavery in the 1850s, there was an open position for the main rival of the Democrats. The โ€œradicalโ€ Republican Party beat out the Know Nothings to fill the void. Their mere existence led to secession and Civil War. From humble beginnings, the Republican Party became the dominant political force of the late Nineteenth Century. The โ€œThird Party System,โ€ ranging from 1856-1894, encompasses the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age.

SECOND PARTY SYSTEM RECAP!

With Henry Clayโ€™s death and General Winfield Scottโ€™s huge loss to Franklin Pierce, the Whig party came to an end in the 1850s. Before we introduce the Grand New Party, Iโ€™d like to pause and review the โ€œSecond Party System,โ€ or the era of the Democrats and the Whigs.