Formation of the Constitutional Union Party
The Whig Party continued to evaporate during the Buchanan administration. In the 1856 congressional elections, the Whig Party generally worked with other parties - the American Party in the South, the Union Party in Pennsylvania, and the Republican Party elsewhere. The Whigs did not sponsor its own candidates in the mid-term elections, either. In many states holding congressional elections in 1859, the non-Democratic party was officially the Opposition Party: AL, GA, KY, MS, NC, TN, and VA. Two Whigs running in North Carolina were the first official Whig candidates for the US House since 1855.
The Constitutional Union Party was launched on 2/5/1860. Former Pennsylvania Whigs, disappointed with the Democratic vs. Republican deadlock in the U.S. House, produced a circular calling a meeting in Philadelphia on that date. The circular, issued on 1/31/1860, stated that Millard Fillmore, John J. Crittenden, and Edward Everett would address the meeting. (New York Times, 2/1/1860). When the gathering finally met in National Hall, Philadelphia, on 2/5/1860, the promised leaders did not appear. Each sent a letter to the meeting, which were read. (New York Times, 2/6/1860)