The Union Party was a political party organized in several slave states to support the Compromise of 1850. It was one of two major parties in the states of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, Georgia, and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

in the early 1850s, alongside the

Southern Rights Party The Southern Rights Party was a political party in the United States, organized exclusively in the Southern United States. It was active for a few years in the early 1850s. Two or three members won seats in the House of Representatives House ...

. While some figures, including notably Daniel Webster, predicted a sweeping political realignment in which the Union Party would unite all those in favor of the Compromise measures, no national organization ever emerged. The party bore no relation to the later Constitutional Union Party that supported John Bell in the 1860 United States presidential election, nor to unionist parties active in the loyal states during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Background

Events following the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

fueled rising tensions between the free and slave states, as proslavery

fire-eaters In American history, the Fire-Eaters were a group of pro-slavery Democrats in the Antebellum South who urged the separation of Southern states into a new nation, which became the Confederate States of America. The dean of the group was Robert R ...

threatened

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

in response to the Wilmot Proviso. Their domination of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in the

Lower South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

after 1849 necessitated a political alliance between unionist Democrats and Whigs who sought to avert a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and defeat their intrapartisan rivals. Unionists were especially active in the 1851 elections, when Union parties elected 14 members to the House of Representatives and won governorships in Georgia and

. The acquiescence of the Southern Rights leaders to the Compromise after 1851 removed the need for a dedicated Union party. Many Whigs who had supported the Union Party movement subsequently joined the Democratic Party; most Unionist Democrats returned to their former political allegiance.

Policy

In states where Union parties were organized, Unionists supported preservation of the federal Union and opposed an independent Southern Confederacy. Ardently proslavery, they rejected secession as unconstitutional and ruinous to the interests of the slave states. Instead, they advocated a policy of conditional unionism wherein the slave states would remain loyal to the national government so long as the free states agreed to abide by the Compromise and abstain from any future attacks on slavery. While they opposed immediate secession, Unionists did not rule it out in the future should southern demands go unheeded. Many who had been Unionists in the 1850s would go on to serve in the Confederate government during the Civil War, including

Alexander H. Stephens Alexander Hamilton Stephens (February 11, 1812 – March 4, 1883) was an American politician who served as the vice president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, and later as the 50th governor of Georgia from 1882 until his death in 1 ...

Background

Policy

Electoral history

Presidential tickets

See also

References

External links