Answer:
E. Both the Whigs and the Democrats tried to avoid the issue of slavery.
Step-by-step explanation:
There are large percentage of Southerners who owned farms and plantation that became The supporters base of the whigs and the Democrats at that time.
Both of these party afraid that if they advocated to abolish the slavery, a lot of their supporter base will be gone and it will be hard for them to maintain their influence. (since slave labors are very important for the plantation/farm owners)
Because of this, Both the Whigs and the Democrats tried to avoid the issue of slavery.