Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/63

* BEPUBLICAN PARTY. 47 stances, as in the cases of Butler and Jolmson, their allegiance was but teni[jorarj-. Before the new party had been in existence a year it had secured a popular niajoritj' for the opponents of slavery in 15 of the 31 States, and had elected 11 United States Senators and a plurality in the House of Kepresentatives. The first Re- publican national convention met at Philadel- phia, on June 17. IS.JU. and was attended by delegates from all the Xortbern States, from the Territories of iIinne>ota. Xeliraska, and Kansas, from the District of Columbia, from Virginia, and from tile border Stales of Delaware, ilaryland, and Kentucky. The nomination for the Presidency was given to .folin C. Fremont, whose career as an explorer and pioneer nuide him a magnetic leader. The platform declared it to be "both the right and the duty of Congress to prohibit in the Terri- tories those twin relies of Iwrbarism, polygamy and slavery;" it demanded the immediate admis- sion of Kansas as a free State, and denounced the (Jstend -Manifesto (q. v.), "with its higliwayman's plea that might nuikes riglit." Whig inHuence was apparent in its strong declaration in favor of interna! ini])rovements at national expense, in- cluding the construction of a railway to the Pa- cific. FrtMnont obtained 114 electoral votes (Buchanan, the Democratic candidate, receiving 174 1, and polled a popular vote of 1.341,204, carrying all the free States with the exception of Xew .lersey. California. Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Illinois. (See Electohal Vote.s and United St.vtes. section History, for details on Presidential elections.) A slight falling off in Republican strengtii in Congress reflected the waning of the first entluisiasm and the defection of some of the least disinterested members, but their places were soon more than filled by new adherents from the shattered American Party and from Whigs and Democrats, to whom the bred Scott decision and the Lecompton Bill were intolerable. During Buchanan's administration the Republicans de- voted their eflorts to protesting against the ex- tension of slavery, and to unsuccessful attempts to secure the passage of a Homestead Bill and the appropriation of public lands for educational purposes. In 1800 the Republican national con- vention was held in Chicago. The platform de- nounced Democratic threats of disunion ; insisted that the rights of the States should be main- tained inviolate, especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively; de- clared that "the normal condition of all the terri- tory of the United States is that of freedom, which Congress is bound to preserve and defend;" de- manded the prompt admission of Kansas as a free State, and the passage of a Homestead Bill ; fa- vored a protective tariff, and river and harbor im- provements ; and advocated a Pacific railway, to be aided by national grants. In the balloting for candidates the more prominent leaders. Seward and Chase, were soon passed over as having made too many enemies or aroused too great appre- hensions, and on the third ballot the nomination fell to Lincoln, largely from considerations of 'availability.' for as yet the full measure of his strength had by no means been revealed. Governor Hamlin, of JIaine. a former Democrat, was given the second place on the ticket. Out of the 303 electoral votes Lincoln received 180. and his plurality was nearly .500.000; but his strength REPUBLICAN PARTY. was exclusively in the North, and his vote fell far short of a majority. Republican rule began even before Lincoln's inauguration, for in the closing months of the 30th Congress the withdrawal of Southern mem- bers gave the Republicans a majority in both Houses, a fact promptly signalizeil by the ad- mission of Kansas, and bv the passage of a protective tariff act. The 'conduct of the war against the Confederate States was thrown into the hands of the loose-eonstructionist Republican Party; yet the opposition, especially in the later years of the eonthet, was vigorous. The chief war measures were enacted by Republican votes, and favorite Republican policies were also brought to realization in the Homestead Bill of 1302, and the grants in aid of railwaj-s and of education. Really -pivotal,' however, was the party's policy toward slavery. Here Lincoln himself took the lead. The preliminary Procla- mation of Emancipation (q.v.), issiied'upon his own responsibility, served to "unite the South and divide the North." FormidaI)le reaction followed, and in the autumn elections of S&2 the very existence of the Union was at stake. No one could doubt that the loss of Republican ascendency would result in the ending of the war by some compromise which would involve the dissolution of the Union, yet the great States New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illi- nois all showed Democratic majorities ; but the New England States, Kansas and ilinnesota, California and Oregon followed the President's leading, and the border States, too, came to the .support of his policy. In the resulting Congress the Republicans found themselves in control by a majority of about twenty votes. Lincoln's policy had been vindicated: "he had been clear- sighted enough to recognize that the moment had come to ctmimit the party to an aggressive policy, and on a question of right and wrong he had been willing to trust the people. But "nothing less than an amendment to the Constitution could be relied upon actually to abolish slavery for- ever. Such an amendment was proposed in De- cember, 1863, but went over to the next session, and therefore became one of the vital issues of the campaign of 1864. Lincoln insisted that the advocacy of such an amendment should be made the 'keystone' of the platform. In sharp contrast with the resolutions of ISl'iO. the Republican Con- vention now declared that slavery was the cause and the strength of the rebellion; that it was "hostile to the principle of republican govern- ment," and that "the national safety demanded its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the Republic:" that the Constitution should be so amended as to 'terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States;" and that no terms but unconditional surrender should be granted to the rebellious States, Lincoln was re- nominated by acclamation, and, as a mark of recognition of the patriotism of the loyal men of the border States, the nomination for the Vice- Presidency was given to Andrew .lohnson. of Tennessee. Lincoln's vote in the electoral col- lege exceeded that of his Democratic o])ponent, ifcClellan, ten to one. yet it is significant that his popular majority was less than .500.000. .Janu- ary 28, ISO."), with the aid of eleven Democr.atie votes, the joint resolution (v. Amend. XIII. U. S. Const.) was passed by the House.