What changes were occurring with political parties from 1854 to the election of Abe Lincoln to the presidency?

I have edited your question because the original question was
not clear.  I hope this is what you were trying to ask.

The basic
change that was going on during this time is that the political parties were splitting apart. 
Parties that had been national (had support all across the nation) were splitting up into
Northern and Southern factions.

This change can be seen, for
example, in the Democratic Party.  In the 1860 election, this party ran two different candidates
-- one from the Northern "wing" of the party and one from the South.  This also impacted the
Whigs.  The split between Northern and Southern Whigs over the issue of slavery caused that party
to fall apart with the Northern Whigs becoming a large part of the new Republican
Party.