In Eric Foner's "A Short History of Reconstruction" he offers the readers an in depth analysis and commentary on this deeply historical period in the United States. Throughout his book Foner continues a clear stance on the Civil War and shortcomings on the Reconstruction while answering questions reasonably in the book, making his book resourceful and great for academia. From Foner's writings I will apply my understanding of them and answer the following questions, how slavery ended the Second Party System in the 1850's and how the Republican Party played a role in this. The Republican Party's role in changing the south politically and societally, and how the definition of freedom changed over time through 1860 and 1877. .
During the election of 1860 the United States spanned the entire continent. This in turn created a source of nationalistic pride for the expansionist whom believed in the Manifest Destiny, that is was the fulfillment of God's wish and the American's duty to expand its republican institutions. But the national pride soon lost life when American's found them face to face with the issue of whether slavery should follow the expansionists in to the new territories. During the 1850s several different views on slavery's expansion and its position in America's future gave doubt and resentment between the northerners and southerners. Which led to how slavery ended the Second Part System. In the 1850s the Whig Party submitted to the sectionalizing effects of the slavery issue while also forgoing to operate as a national political party. Just as the nation the Whigs could not sustain itself while being half slave owning and the other half free. Simultaneously the Democratic Party was weakening through the means of slavery. An overlapping ideal in Foner's book, essentially says that slavery is a solvent of democracy. This allows for democracy to disband and eventually end the Second Party System.