Franklin Pierce (mar 4, 1853 – mar 4, 1857)

Description:

Winner: Franklin Pierce (Democrat).-

Top Candidates: Winfield Scott (Whig), John P. Hale (Free Soil), Daniel Webster (Union party), and William Goodell (Liberty party).-

Major Parties: Democratic party and Whig party, with smaller parties such as free soil and union party also taking a role.-

Major Issues: The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas, as well as continued cruel enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. The dismemberment of the Whig party also played a role.-

Contributions to Civil War: Bleeding Kansas and Kansas-Nebraska Act significantly increased sectional tensions over slavery, due to the violence as well as deviating from the Missouri Compromise. The continued enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act also made the North more and more frustrated.

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