What happened to Southern Whigs?

The Southern Whigs largely disbanded in the 1850s due to internal divisions over issues like slavery and sectionalism. As the party struggled to maintain a cohesive platform that appealed to both Northern and Southern members, many Southern Whigs shifted their allegiance to the Democratic Party or joined the newly formed Constitutional Union Party. By the time of the Civil War, the Whig Party effectively ceased to exist in the South, unable to reconcile the growing tensions between slave and free states. The collapse of the Whig Party marked a significant realignment in American politics, paving the way for the rise of the Republican Party.