The Republican Party – The Party of Progress
The Republican Party was born in the early 1950’s by anti-slavery activists. On February 28, 1854, Major Alvan E. Bovay called a meeting at the Congregational Church in Ripon, Wisconsin. The men who met that night came together in the common belief that slavery was unconstitutional.
In Congress, debate raged over the Kansas-Nebraska bill, whose passage would leave the legal question of slavery to the residents of the two territories and upset a ban on slavery in those territories as impose by the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
On March 20, 1854, after the passage in the Senate of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, a committee of five was appointed in Ripon to form a new party. The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan. The name “Republican” was formally adopted because the founders professed to be political descendants of Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party. At the meeting a platform was adopted. Organizational meeting followed in Iowa, Ohio, Maine, Massachuetts, New York and other northern states.
The Republican Party was born in the early 1950’s by anti-slavery activists. On February 28, 1854, Major Alvan E. Bovay called a meeting at the Congregational Church in Ripon, Wisconsin. The men who met that night came together in the common belief that slavery was unconstitutional.
In Congress, debate raged over the Kansas-Nebraska bill, whose passage would leave the legal question of slavery to the residents of the two territories and upset a ban on slavery in those territories as impose by the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
On March 20, 1854, after the passage in the Senate of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, a committee of five was appointed in Ripon to form a new party. The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan. The name “Republican” was formally adopted because the founders professed to be political descendants of Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party. At the meeting a platform was adopted. Organizational meeting followed in Iowa, Ohio, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and other northern states.
In June 1856, Senator John C. Fremont was nominated for president with the slogan “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont” in Philadelphia during the first Republican convention. He lost to Democrat James Buchanan. Two days after Buchanan’s inauguration, the Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott decision which was denounced by Republicans.
The second Republican national convention in 1860 nominated Abraham Lincoln. The platform pledged not to extend slavery. Lincoln won with only 39.8% of the popular vote.
In 1861, Civil War erupted and lasted four years. During the war, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves. Republicans worked to pass the 13th Amendment, outlawing slavery; the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law; and the 15th Amendment which helped secure voting rights for African-Americans.
The Republican Party played a leading role in securing women the right to vote. In 1896, the first major party to favor women’s suffrage was the Republican Party. When, in 1920, the 19th Amendment was finally added to the United States Constitution, 26 of the 36 state legislatures that voted to ratify it were under Republican control. The first woman elected to the United States Congress was a Republican from Montana, Jeanette Rankin.