Hey everyone, I've been reading a lot about this, but I can't find a super basic explanation of exactly what the different political parties believed in the years leading up to the American Civil War. I don't want to read these super complicated essays detailing everything about these parties, I just want a simple explanation. What did the Whigs want? What did the Democrats want? What did the Republicans want? Were all three of these parties actually truly a thing at the time? I keep reading things that contradict each other. Thanks!
Super basic explanation! Note first that there were factions within all parties, but I'll try to concentrate on the 'main thrust'.
First, a couple of parties that didn't exist at the time of the 1860 election, but were a factor before then.
Whigs: In favor of government investment (more through Congress than the presidency) in the country's infrastructure and economy. Supported the Bank of the United States. Split by the issue of slavery, they basically dissolved in the early 1850s. Abraham Lincoln was originally a Whig. Other Whigs were absorbed by various other political parties, (usually) depending on what position they held on slavery.
American/Know-Nothings: Nativist party. Anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic. The movement was powerful for a while in the early 1850s, but was largely absorbed or driven off the rails around the 1856 election. Pro-slavery members generally went to the Constitutional Union party (see below), anti-slavery members to the Republicans.
Parties that contested the 1860 election:
Republicans: A fusion party, uniting former Whigs, Democrats, and new voters into an explicitly anti-slavery party. Otherwise a successor to the Whig party (in terms of government improvements, etc). Almost entirely Northern - many Southern states didn't even have Republicans on the ballet in 1860.
Democrats: Generally (but not entirely) pro-slavery. Otherwise anti-Whig in regards to domestic issues - pro-states rights, supporting a 'hands-off' policy in terms of internal improvements, against taxation and the Bank of the United States. However, they nominated Stephen Douglas for President in 1860, who wasn't pro-slavery enough for the South, which led to the...
Southern Democrats: Basically Democratic, but much more pro-slavery, formed in response to the nomination of Douglas. Otherwise similar to the Democrats.
Constitutional Union: A weird party, they took some supporters from the old Whig and American parties, but otherwise basically tried to ignore the controversial issues of the day. Nevertheless nominated a slaveholder for President. Carried a few states, but generally ignored by most politicians (even they didn't expect to win - they only hoped to prevent a clear-cut winner from any of the other parties thus triggering the kind of clusterf*ck inherent in the electoral college).