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We all know that slavery was not the main reason of the Civil War, the main reason was Sectionalism and the south trying to seceding from the Union. One good thing that the opposition to slavery did do is launch three different parties, two of which did not last for a long time. Some anti-slavery leaders looked to political methods as a way of attacking the institution. When these men were unable to find enough support in the Democratic or Whig parties, these anti-slavery men founded the Liberty party in 1840. This party was then reformed in 1848 to make the Free Soil party 1, this party was to focus on a specific issue - the opposition to the extension of slavery into United States territories. Even though these two parties both faded away quickly, the did help crystalize the attitudes on the issue of slavery.
Then in the 1850 s the two party system that we were used to was collapsing with the disappearance of the Whig party and the splintering of the Democratic party. Out of the this upheaval sprang the God sent Republican Party, a new party dedicated to states' rights and a restricted role of government in As the Republican party emerged the country was in political realignment. With the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 reopened an issue generally believed to have been permanently settled by the Compromise of 1850. This act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and opened the remaining territories of the United States to slavery by allowing the electorate of each territory to decide whether it would be slave or free 2. Many new local groups appeared to demand repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, as well as the Fugitive Slave Act of of 1850.
These groups soon combined into state organizations that generally denounced slavery as a political, social, and moral evil. The Republican name was first adopted at a protest meeting in Ripon, Wis. , on Feb. 28, 18543. This group of reformers professed to be Thomas Jefferson's spiritual heirs. They dropped the name Democratic from the name of the earlier Democratic-Republican party of Jefferson and his followers. Since these reformers believed Jefferson to have influenced the writing and the passing of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
This ordinance abolished slavery from those territories of the United States lying north of the Ohio River. These republicans considered themselves as representing the principles of the Declaration of Independence- a view implied in their partys declarations. The first convention of a Republic state party was held Under the Oaks at Jackson, Mich. , on July 6, 18543. This convention formally adopted the name Republican, and shortly various other organizations held meetings, adopted the designation of Republican, and proceeded to prefect their machinery. Many people followed in the views of this new party, which included politicians and voters who were previously given their allegiance to the northern Whigs, the Free Soil party, the free Democrats, and the nativist American party. Many conventions met on July 13, 1854, to commemorate the enactment of the Northwest Ordinance, including state conventions in Vermont, Ohio, Indiana, and The election of 1856 was the new Republican partys time to shine.
The Republican National Convention nominated John C. Front for president and William L. Dayton for vice-president 2. Front had a very nice chant, Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Man, Front. The Democratic nominee was James Buchanan, and the American and Whig parties nominee was Millard Fillmre.
The election ended out with James Buchanan winning. John C. Front 1, 339, 932 popular 2 114 Electoral College 2 James Buchanan 1, 832, 955 popular 2 174 Electoral College 2 Millard Fillmre 8 Electoral College 2 Front was defeated, but he did carry eleven states, establishing the organizational base of the new party 3. The Republicans drew about one third of their strength from the Democrats through the Free Soil party and about two thirds from the Whig party. All of Frmont's support came from the Northern states. The Struggle for Kansas, the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, and the growing friction between sections further sharpened the political cleavages developing within the nation.
The Republican Party, meeting in Chicago, May 16 - 18, 1860, was represented by delegates from all of the free states, as well as from the states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia, the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and the District of Columbia 2. After a short contest between supporters of William H. Seward and Abraham Lincoln, the convention nominated Lincoln, originally a Whig turned Republican, and Hannibal Hamlin, originally a democrat turned Republican, for the presidency and vice-presidency. The Republican party first captured a presidential victory in 1860 under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln.
His election was followed by the Civil War, during which the Republican party was the majority party. Despite the persistent antagonism of the south, the Republicans commanded control of the White House for all but 16 years between 1860 and 1932. During this period Lincoln had many good successors. Ulysses S. Grant in 1869 - 73, 1873 - 77. Rutherford B.
Hayes in 1877 - 81. James A. Garfield in 1881 and then died in office. Chester A.
Arthur in 1881 - 85. Benjamin Harrison in 1889 - 93. William McKinley in 1897 - 1901, 1901 and then died in office. Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 - 05, 1905 - 09.
William Howard Taft in 1909 - 13. Warren G. Harding in 1921 - 23 died in office. Calvin Coolidge in 1923 - 25, 1925 - 29.
Herbert C. Hoover 1929 - 33. Then after a period of twenty years the Republicans regained the presidency with the election of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 - 57, 1957 - 61. Since then they have placed Richard M.
Nixon 1969 - 73, 1973 - 74 when he resigned and let Gerald R. Ford Jr. in 1974 - 77 take over 1. Ronald W. Reagan in 1981 - 85, 1985 - 89. George Bush in Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: anti slavery, kansas nebraska act, abraham lincoln, james buchanan, republican party
Research essay sample on Kansas Nebraska Act Abraham Lincoln
