# data[].attributes.body
The Whig Party formed out of the National Republican Party, the leaders of which were John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay.

These nationalists supported internal improvements and moral reforms. In 1836, the Whigs factioned off, but generally united against Jackson's policies of the last eight years.

# data[].attributes.body
The Whig Party ran a "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" campaign in which they presented their presidential candidate, William Henry Harrison, a Virginia aristocrat, as a simple man and hero of the people. The conservatives formed the Liberty Party and sought to end slavery gradually through traditional, political channels.

# data[].attributes.body
The Whigs were split by the annexation from the Mexican War. They attempted to offset this damage by declaring no platform at all and nominating Zachary Taylor, a man who up until 1848 had had very little to do with politics.The Democrats were also split by the Mexican War annexation.

# data[].attributes.body
Whigs were dedicated to the enforcement of the provisions of the Compromise of 1850, which included the admission of California as a free state and a stricter fugitive slave law. Free Soilers demanded the repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law and opposed the further admission of slave states.

# data[].attributes.body
The rate of immigration at mid-century caused many nativists to fear foreign invasion. Democrats again united along a pro-slavery platform, endorsing states' rights, the Fugitive Slave Law, and popular sovereignty in the territories. They organized into a secret order known as the "Know-Nothings".