Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/329



HE controversy over the Settlement of 1850 which had begun with limited popularity, persisted through the defeats of five years, until now, under the political conditions of parties North and with the opportunity furnished by the Kansas question, it suddenly enlarged into such proportions as to create among its leaders the sanguine hope of political success through a party under a new and attractive name taken from the early days of the republic.

The exciting debates in Congress on questions relating to geographical supremacy, the eager discussions among the people, the election of Congressmen opposed to the administration, the increasing control of State governments in the North, encouraged a combination powerful enough to confront aggressively the national party, whose leaders then controlled the government. The grounds