1854–55 United States House of Representatives elections

Common card · No. 306073

States held the 1854–55 United States House of Representatives elections between August 4, 1854, and November 6, 1855, to elect the 234 members and five non-voting delegates of the United States House of Representatives. The Democratic Party remained the largest party but lost almost half its seats, while Know Nothings and the Anti-Nebraska movement made large gains. The Whig Party largely failed to capitalize on the weakness of its major rival, signaling the collapse of the Second Party System. Controversy surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act and nativist opposition to Catholic immigration dominated the 1854 United States elections. Popular outrage against the Nebraska law produced new political parties in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin that included most former Whigs, Free Soilers, and Anti-Nebraska Democrats. As many as one in four Northern Democrats abandoned their party, while Democrats suffered a net loss of 70 seats in the free states. Northern Whigs hoped to benefit from...

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