Beginning with the election of 1848, America began to see the dismantlement of the long-standing two party system as it no longer met the needs of the American people. Slavery became a central issue of upcoming presidential and congressional elections alike; people were no longer voting for the party they might have previously aligned with but rather for the party and candidate that most closely shared their views on the issue of slavery. The old party system didn’t address this issue as successfully as the nation needed, as can be seen with the Whig party, a once power political group, that quickly fell apart as slavery became more and more of a national concern. As the years progressed, and the issue of slavery became more and more polarizing,
