Birth of a New Political Party:The Republicans

RANDOM LINCOLN FACT # 1Lincoln was once quoted,

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing forslavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it

tried on him personally."

Origins of the Republicans

After the defeat of Winfield Scott by Franklin Pierce in the 1852 election, the Whigs began to fall apart as a political party. They were soon replaced by the Republican Party, which grew out of the Free Soilers, northern Democrats, and antislavery Whigs. The new party grew quickly and challenged other parties for power by 1856.

(In the South the Democrats were still strong and the Whigs still had much support in the border states between the North and the Deep South).

A Look at the Republican Party1. The main goal was to keep slavery out of the western territories. (Not abolition of slavery in South)

2. In 1856, John Fremont was the Republican Party candidate for President. Fremont had little political experience but opposed the spread of slavery. Fremont was defeated by the Democratic candidate James Buchanan. Although the Republicans lost the election, they made a strong showing and paved the way for the election of 1860. Fremont

Buchanan

RANDOM LINCOLN FACT # 2

Abraham Lincoln's mother died of "Milk Sickness" when

he was only 9 years old. "Milk Sickness" occurs when a cow‘s milk is made poisonous by the cow

having grazed on white snakeroot plants.

In 1858 in the state of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln (Republican) and Stephen Douglas (Democrat) ran against each other in a Senate race that captured the entire nation's attention. Most people knew that these two men would run for the presidency in 1860.

Lincoln and Douglas had very different opinions on the issues facing our nation. These differences led to a series of debates, now known as the Lincoln-Douglas debates. There were seven of these debates.

RANDOM LINCOLN FACT # 3

Abraham Lincoln is the only US President to hold a patent.

His was for a "device for buoying vessels over shoals."

Douglas wanted to settle the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty. He didn't like slavery, but wanted to let people make a decision about it.

Lincoln did not believe in perfect equality between blacks and whites but he thought that slavery was morally wrong. Lincoln was totally opposed to slavery in the western territories. Still, he was NOT an abolitionist. He didn't want to end slavery in the states where it already existed.

Lincoln Douglas

RANDOM LINCOLN FACT # 4

John Wilkes Booth's brother Edwin Booth saved the life of

Abraham Lincoln's son Robert about a year and a half before

Lincoln's assassination.

Compare the two men's opinions on slavery:

·slavery morally wrong·opposed to slavery spreading to the western territories·NOT an abolitionist ·NOT attempting to end slavery in the South

·Did not like slavery, but NOT trying to get rid of it·Popular sovereignty should decide slavery in the West

RANDOM LINCOLN FACT # 5

Due to fears of grave robbers and grave desecrators,

Abraham Lincoln's grave was moved 17 different

times after his original burial.

A House DividedIn June 1858 Lincoln delivered one of his most famous speeches on the issue of slavery. It was known as the House Divided Speech.

-A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect this house to fall - but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.

Lincoln lost the race for Senate, but two years later, he and Douglas would have a rematch in the race for president.

The Republicans selected Abraham Lincoln to oppose the northern Democrats choice of Stephen Douglas. The southern Democrats chose John C. Breckinridge and the Constitutional Union party chose John Bell.

Lincoln won every northern state, easily winning him the election. The South was upset with the election of a Republican president and a national crisis seemed unavoidable!!

RANDOM LINCOLN FACT # 6

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to have

facial hair while in office.