The issue of slavery takes a bloody turn as sectional tensions turn violent in the West. “Bloody Kansas” deprives President Pierce of his party’s nomination and leaves the door open for Democrat Candidate James Buchanan to take the reigns. With the Whig party in tatters, Buchanan faces off against two new political factions: a third party called the Know Nothings, and a brand new faction that is now known as The Republican Party.

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