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This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Opposition Party

by William C. Harris, 2006

The Opposition Party was the name temporarily adopted in 1860 by North Carolina members of the Whig Party, which had practically dissolved over the slavery issue. Its supporters nominated John Pool for governor on a platform of union and an end to sectional agitation. Pool lost to John W. Ellis, the Southern Rights candidate.

Additional Resources:

Baggett, James Alex. The Scalawags: Southern Dissenters in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Louisiana State University Press. 2003.

Ellis, John Willis. Papers of John Willis Ellis: Volume 2. Raleigh [N.C.]: State Dept. of Archives and History. 1964. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/papers-of-john-willis-ellis-1860-1861-v.2/2691334?item=2794638

Subjects:

Antebellum (1820-1861)

Civil War (1861-1865)

Political movements and parties

Authors:

Harris, William C.

From:

Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.

1 January 2006 | Harris, William C.