Why is the Cotton Whigs important to American history?
The term Whig was taken from English politics, the name of a faction that opposed royal tyranny… in the US the Whig party consisted of states’ rights advocates, and supporters of the American System. In some respects the Whigs were the descendants of the old Federalist Party, supporting the Hamiltonian preference for strong federal action in dealing with national problems. The issue of slavery split the party. “Conscience Whigs” in the North favored the abolition of slavery and halting the institution’s spread into new territories. The “Cotton Whigs” in the South took the opposite viewpoints. Following Whig Winfield Scott’s poor showing in the 1852 Presidential election, the southerners moved to the Democratic Party and the northerners to the newly formed Republican Party. Basically, the Cotton Whigs joined with the Southern Democrats and started the secession and Civil War.
