Formed in protest of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Republican party took root in Ripon, Wisconsin, in February, 1854. Emerging as a coalition of former Whigs, Know-Nothings,
Free-Soilers, and disenchanted Democrats, the party adopted a firm position opposing any further extension of slavery. They rejected further compromise with slavery, emphasized the sectional struggle and appealed to northern voters. The party found its identity in 1856 with the nomination of John Fremont as its candidate for president. Election fraud and violence in Kansas discredited the principle of popular sovereignty and strengthened Republican appeal in the North.
Events in Kansas helped the Republicans. Abolitionists and pro-slavery forces raced into the territory to gain control of the territorial legislature. Proslavery forces won and passed laws that made it illegal even to criticize the institution of slavery. Very soon, however, those who favored free soil became the majority and set up a rival government. President Pierce recognized the proslavery legislature, while the Republicans attacked it as the tyrannical instrument of a minority. The fighting that broke out helped Republicans win more Northern voters.
Republican Party Positions on National Issues:
Reform: Attack corruption in government at all levels; Anti-slavery: Prevent the expansion of slavery into the territories; Pro-Protestant and, to an extent, anti-Catholic;
Support dynamic, expanding capitalism and modernization; Support public-school education;
Support Temperance, moderation in the use of alcohol;
Expand rights for free African Americans.
Opponents called party members "Black Republicans," "Puritans" (interfering meddlers) etc., and believed them to be acquisitive, given to "sharp practice" (shady business dealings), and hypocritical.
World History
