The New Whig Party

Portage, Indiana
November 26th, 2012
Roosevelt High School
American History, 11th Grade
Mr. Joseph Rittner[1], Master's in American History at University of Indiana

"... The run up to the 1852 Presidential Election was like all other run ups.

In the Whig Party, there were only two people running[2]: Incumbent President Millard Fillmore, and Former Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster. Like all Whig Party run ups up to 1852, the incumbent was passed over for another candidate. Daniel Webster became the Whig nominee.

The Democratic Party, for all purposes, was also like some previous elections. Lewis Cass was the front runner for most of the ballots, but in the end, someone else relatively unknown took the front stand: Franklin Pierce.

The Whig Party under Daniel Webster tried to use the fact that Pierce wasn't well known, but in the end, their efforts were not enough. On November 2nd, 1852, Franklin Pierce was elected the 14th President of the United States.

However, things weren't over for either of the two parties. Under Franklin Pierce, we would further see the nation tear itself apart, from the Kansas Crisis[3] to the Fugitive Slave Act. The Whig Party, on the other hand, now in the hands of the anti-slavery politicians, will transform itself from a bickering party only unified by war generals, to a radical new party, strong in its will to eliminate slavery forever from the annals of the United States. [4]

For homework, now, I would like you to read pages 230 to 242; we will discuss the events under the Pierce Administration tomorrow."

Author's Notes
[1] I chose to write my first timeline like a history class, kind of like what Jim Smitty did for his America's Manifest Destiny timeline. However, the teacher's name is just a random name, not mine's.
[2] POD. In OTL, General Winfield Scott Hancock ran for president, splitting the Northern vote in the runoffs, losing by a huge margin, and causing the death of the Whig Party shortly after. In ITTL, Daniel Webster gets the nomination, doing a little better in the election itself, so the party doesn't seem like it's at its end.
[3] OTL's Bleeding Kansas
[4] The Whig Party doesn't dissolve, instead, it will reform itself.
 
Don't usually read pre-1900 TL's but I'm willing to give this a chance. Interesting format, hope you have some fun with it. Curious to see where this goes.
 
Don't usually read pre-1900 TL's but I'm willing to give this a chance. Interesting format, hope you have some fun with it. Curious to see where this goes.

well, the format is based off Jim Smitty's America's Manifest Destiny timeline. By the start of 1900, Russia will be wiped off the map.
 
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