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Difficulty: MediumPolitical Realignment and the Election of 1860

Excerpt from a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to Joshua Speed, August 24, 1855:

"I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty—to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy."

Which of the following political developments in the mid-1850s is best illustrated by the sentiments expressed in the letter?

  1. A
    The passage of federal constitutional amendments that guaranteed equal protection and citizenship.
  2. The fragmentation of the Second Party System and the rise of sectional and nativist political parties.Answer
  3. C
    A sectional agreement between Northern and Southern Whigs to focus on economic tariffs rather than the expansion of slavery.
  4. D
    The national consensus to implement popular sovereignty as a permanent resolution to territorial disputes.

Answer

The fragmentation of the Second Party System and the rise of sectional and nativist political parties.
The fragmentation of the Second Party System and the rise of sectional and nativist political parties is correct because the collapse of the Whig Party in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 left a political vacuum. This led to the temporary rise of the nativist American Party, who opposed Irish and German Catholic immigration, and the ultimate rise of the sectional Republican Party, which united former Whigs, Free-Soilers, and anti-slavery Democrats.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the date and context of the excerpt.
The letter was written in 1855 by Abraham Lincoln, addressing the decline of the Whig Party and the rise of the Know-Nothing (American) Party.
Establishing the historical timeframe is essential for understanding which political parties and debates were active.
2
Analyze the core political message in Lincoln's critique.
Lincoln criticizes the Know-Nothings' platform, which targeted immigrants and Catholics, and warns about the erosion of the principle that 'all men are created equal.'
Understanding the specific targets of the letter helps identify the rise of nativism as a political force.
3
Relate these elements to the broader mid-1850s political landscape.
The collapse of the Whig Party led to a realignment where nativist groups and anti-slavery coalitions competed to form the main opposition to the Democratic Party.
Connecting the document to the collapse of the Second Party System identifies the correct historical development.

Key Concept

Political Realignment and the rise of new coalition parties due to sectional tensions over slavery and debates over nativism.
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Topics

Political Realignment and the Election of 1860

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