Chapter 10, section 3

The Birth of the Republican Party

Horace Greeley• Editor of New York

Tribune• Staunch abolitionist• Argues against

popular sovereignty and in favor of violent resistance to slave catchers

Horace Greeley, continued• Frustrated with Whig Party’s shifting

position on slavery

• March, 1855….urged people to join a new antislavery political party, the Republican Party

• Quote, p. 295

Slavery Divides Whig Party• Whig Party (founded in

1834 as a reaction against Pres. Andrew Jackson)

• Split over issue of slavery (northern “conscience” antislavery and southern “cotton” proslavery

• Whig candidate Winfield Scott loses to Democrat Franklin Pierce in 1852

The Know-Nothing Party• Earlier known as

American Party• Belief in NATIVISM:

favoring native-born people over immigrants

• Primarily middle-class Protestants; had an anti-Catholic bias as they feared that Catholics would be influenced by the Pope on political issues

Know Nothing Party (2)• Supported a longer

naturalization period for immigrants, thus delaying when they were able to vote

• Know-Nothing party captured the governorship of Massachusetts in 1854, however like the Whigs they were split on slavery. Northern Know-Nothings began to edge towards the Republican Party

• Also earlier known as the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner

• Used secret handshakes and passwords

• Instructed to answer questions about their activities by saying, “I know nothing.”

Free Soil Party• 1848, Free Soil party

chose Martin Van Buren as it’s candidate

• Opposed extension of slavery into the territories

• No electoral votes won, but received 10% of the popular vote

Free Soil Party (2)• Free-Soilers were not necessarily

abolitionists

• What Free-Soilers mostly objected to was slavery’s competition with free white workers (the extension of slavery directly threatened the free labor system)

Republican Party• Feb. 28, 1854:

opponents of slavery in the territories met in Wisconsin and recommended the formation of a new political party

• July 6, 1854: Republican Party was formally organized in Jackson, Michigan

• Opposed Kansas-Nebraska Act and wanted to keep slavery out of the territories

Who were the Republicans?• Included Free-Soilers, antislavery Whigs and

Democrats and nativists• Temperance supporters who wanted to

prohibit the sale of alcohol• Small farmers who wanted land grants in the

west• Commercial farmers and manufacturers who

needed more internal improvements if they were to prosper….in general, very diverse

The Election of 1856• Candidates:John Fremont - RJames Buchanan - DMillard Fillmore - K/N• Buchanan wins only

45% of popular vote but wins entire south except for Maryland

• Fremont carried 11/16 free states but came in second

Lessons of Election of 1856• Democrats could win the presidency

with a national candidate who could compete in the north without alienating the south

• Know-Nothings, like the Whigs, were in a decline nationally

• Republicans were a political force in the North