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American History Lecture Six (view source)
Revision as of 18:27, January 28, 2013
, 18:27, January 28, 2013Undo revision 1031882 by Barack (talk)
In 1835, a Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville published a book entitled "Democracy in America," which was collection of observations about our young nation based on his nine-month visit. This book remains the most comprehensive analysis of American culture, and includes many insightful statements like "the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention." De Tocqueville also observed about America, "I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position."
In 1835, a Frenchman named Alexis de Tocqueville published a book entitled "Democracy in America," which was collection of observations about our young nation based on his nine-month visit. This book remains the most comprehensive analysis of American culture, and includes many insightful statements like "the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention." De Tocqueville also observed about America, "I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position."
== Review ==
In the 1850s, the [[Whig Party]] collapsed. Its antislavery wing became the Republican Party in the North, and the wealthy southern Whigs joined the Democratic Party in the South. There have always been geographic strengths and weaknesses in political parties: in areas of the country where one party is strong, the opposing party is weak. Recall that the Federalist Party in 1800 was strong in Massachusetts, while the Democratic-Republican Party was strong in Virginia. Jackson's Democratic Party was strong in the West (Tennessee) and South, while the Whig Party was strong in the northeast.
In the late 1850s, the Republicans were strong in the North, and Democrats were strong in the South (the opposite is true today). At that time the Republican Party was young and had not fully developed, and there were still many northern Democrats, which gave the Democrats the upper hand in elections. The Democratic Party presidential candidates won both in 1852 (Franklin Pierce) and in 1856 (James Buchanan). Both Pierce and Buchanan were Democrats and pro-slavery.
For the presidential election of 1860, the Republican Party platform supported the Wilmot Proviso and rejected slavery in the territories, and thereby rejected Stephen Douglas's approach of "popular sovereignty." Abraham Lincoln, the Republican nominee for president, had switched from the Whig Party to the Republican Party in 1856, and in 1860 campaigned for president by advocating saving the Union (keeping the North and South together in one country).
== Secession ==
== Secession ==