The Republican Party: Overall Issues, 1860-1868

595 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Compare and contrast the Republican and Democratic party

The Republican Party: Overall Issues, 1860-1868

The Republican party during the 1860's was known as the party more concerned with "civil rights" and the common American. This came about through a series of sweeping changes in the party that occurred during two major time periods: the 1860-1864 and 1864-1868. The changes in the party reflected the attitude in the North as opposed to the confederate, democratic South. The main issue that divided the two was slavery and its implications for control of the nation. The best illustration of the party's anti-slavery sentiment (as contrasted to abolitionism) in 1860, is the fact that although the party was against slavery , it refused to attempt to stamp it out of the regions it was already present. For example, in the Republican Party Platform for 1860, the party states its abhorrence for slavery and declares that slavery should not be instituted into new territories, but it never tries to outlaw it from Southern states. "That the normal conditions of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom...and we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature or of any individuals, to give existence to Slavery in any Territory of the United States."
In the first four years of the 1860's, the North and South waged war over these issues, with the Republican North emerging victorious. The
Republicans took charge of the national political power. Although he worked with an anti-slavery platform, President Lincoln attempted to make a generous peace with the South, with hopes of expanding the power of the Republican party with support from the South. Examples of this can be found in the fact that
Confederate officials were not barred from public office, compensation for lost slaves was not ruled out and Lincoln hinted that he would be generous with pardons to rebel leaders. With the Emancipation Proclamation, the Republicans gained freedom for slaves, but not social or political equality.
During the years of 1864-1868, the Republican platform again changed with the public opinion in the North to one of abolition. In the platform for the National Union Convention, the party affirmed its support for an Amendment to "terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or jurisdiction of the United States." The 13th Amendment confirmed the death of slavery. However, the so-called "Black Codes" that Southern governments implemented forced abolitionist Republicans in Congress to clash with President
Andrew Johnson over the passage of a new Freedmen's Bureau bill and a Civil
Rights Act. This clash signified a division between the old Republican values of tolerance and the new platform of slave rights.

Show More
Related

  • Sectional Compromises In The 19th Century

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two mind paths to choose when considering the statement that the compromises of the 1800s were not really compromises, but sectional sellouts by the North, that continually gave in to the South's wishes. The first is that the compromises really were compromises, and the second is that the compromises were modes of the North selling out. Really, there is only one correct mind path of these two, and that is that the North sold out during these compromises and gave the South what it wanted for minimal returns. The three main compromises of the 19th century, the compromises of 1820 (Missouri) and 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 each were ways for the south to gain more power so that eventually, it could secede.

    Read More

  • Second Great Awakening And Abolitionist Movement Essay

    1606 Words  | 4 Pages

    The scope of the investigation is limited to the Second Great Awakening and the American Abolitionist Movement from 1830-1839, with the exception of some foundational knowledge of the movement prior to 1830 to highlight the changes within the movement in the 1830s. The investigation included an exploration of various letters, lectures, and sermons by leading abolitionists from the time period and a variety of secondary sources analyzing the Second Great Awakening and the Abolitionist Movement from 1830-1839.

    Read More

  • Reconstruction Dbq Essay

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... The cause was forfeited not by Republicans, who welcomed the African-American votes, but to the elite North who had concluded that the formal end of slavery was all the freed man needed and their unpreparedness for the ex-slaves to participate in the Southern commonwealth was evident. Racism, severe economic depression, an exhausted North and troubled South, and a campaign of organized violence toward the freed man, overturned Reconstruction. The North withdrew the last of the federal troops with the passing of The Compromise of 1877. The freed slaves continued to practice few voting rights until 1890, but they were soon stripped of all political, social and economic powers. Not until the civil rights movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s were the freedoms that were fought for by our Republican forefathers nearly 100 years before, finally seen through to fruition.

    Read More

  • political views of federalists and republicans

    357 Words  | 1 Pages

    The political views of the federalist and the republicans towards the government of the United States of America were different. The republicans stressed equality of rights among citizens allowing people to govern themselves. The federalists believed in a stronger government one in which was sovereign and had superior power over the local governments.

    Read More

  • Jacksonian Democracy

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ding the Jacksonian Democrats. Even government authorized establishments lent a hand in the continuation of slavery, such as the Post Office. It honored a request from the South Carolina legislature in 1835 to prevent the transmission of anti-slavery propaganda into the state. The Jacksonian Democrats, in attempts to guard the Constitution, had missed some points, such as "all men are created equal."

    Read More

  • American Antislavery 1820-1860

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    The antebellum American antislavery movement began in the 1820s and was sustained over 4 decades by organizations, publications, and small acts of resistance that challenged the legally protected and powerful institution of slavery and the more insidious enemy of black equality, racism. Abolitionists were always a radical minority even in the free states of the North, and the movement was never comprised of a single group of people with unified motivations, goals, and methods. Rather, the movement was fraught with ambiguity over who its leaders would be, how they would go about fighting the institution of slavery, and what the future would be like for black Americans.

    Read More

  • The American Civil War: The Inevitable Confrontation

    1753 Words  | 4 Pages

    As a central figure in the Republican Party and passionate advocate for anti-slavery, William Henry Seward characterized the conflict between the Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans as inevitable. Each political party had two radically different ideologies regarding the expansion of slavery into western territories. The Southern Democrats believed that slavery should exist in all western states while the Northern Republicans strongly disagreed. Similar to the ideologies of the Republicans, Seward believed that slavery was unjust and humans were granted the r...

    Read More

  • The Beginnings of the Sectional Crisis

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Beginnings of the Sectional Crisis During the antebellum period, the North and the South were complete opposites. This led to each side viewing itself as superior and viewing the other as "backward." Each side believed itself to be superior, in all aspects, to the other. The reasons for these opinions can be found in the different economic, social, and cultural systems found in these two regions. The Southern economy was primarily agricultural.

    Read More

  • The Second Great Awakening

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abolitionism was an issue between the North and South and had been debated in Congress long before the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was like a wake up call that slavery was morally wrong and that something had to be done a soon as possible to correct it. The Awakening inspired northerners to take a stand on slavery and confront southerners about this problem. Before, Northerners really did not care about what was going on in the south, as long as they got their cotton to use in the textile mills and could work they were fine. They did not care about slavery because it...

    Read More

  • The 1860 Presidential Election

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    The presidential elections of 1860 was one of the nation’s most memorable one. The north and the south sections of country had a completely different vision of how they envision their home land. What made this worst was that their view was completely opposite of each other. The north, mostly republican supporters, want America to be free; free of slaves and free from bondages. While on the other hand, the south supporters, mostly democratic states, wanted slavery in the country, because this is what they earned their daily living and profit from.

    Read More

  • American History, 1865-1900

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    The years after the civil war left one half of America, the north, satisfied and the other half, the south, mostly dissatisfied. Therefore the last third of the nineteenth century, 1865-1900, was a time period in which America was mending, repairing, improving, reshaping, and reconstructing its society, economy, culture, and policies. Basically it was changing everything it stood for. This continual change can be seen in the following events that took place during this time. These events are both causes and effects of why America is what it is today. These are some examples: the reconstruction of the south, the great movement towards the west, the agricultural revolution, the rise of industrialism, the completion of the transcontinental railroad, and America's growth to gaining world power. All of these are reasons and events that characterize America as being an ever-changing nation.

    Read More

  • Constitutional and Social Issues From 1860 to 1877

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    From 1860 to 1877, the American people faced several constitutional and social issues. For example, the after-effects of the Civil War, power struggle between the state and federal government, issues with civil liberties and suffrage, the rights of free black men, and resentment of white men, have all become critical issues. These critical issues needed immediate resolutions. Therefore, resolutions were created to solve these problems and those resolutions called for new constitutional and social developments that have amount to a revolution.

    Read More

  • Differences Between the North and South that Led to the Civil War

    1460 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the American Revolution, slavery began to decrease in the North, just as it was becoming more popular in the South. By the turn of the century, seven of the most Northern states had abolished slavery. During this time, a surge of democratic reform swept the North to the West, and there were demands for political equality, economic and social advances for all Americans. Northerners said that slavery revoked the human right of being a free person and when new territories became available i...

    Read More

  • American Civil War

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    Slavery in America was a problem. Most people did not see it but there was a select few who saw through the veil and into the evil of slavery. They hesitantly proposed that slavery be abolished. Soon they became increasingly loud about their complaints. Their main argument was that it said in the constitution that “all men are created equal.” Slavery was against the constitution that America was founded on and should be abolished. These people were called “Abolitionists.”

    Read More

  • Unrest and Issues During the Gilded Age

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Commonly referred to as the Gilded Age, the end of the nineteenth century was a period of social issues and political unrest. Following a period of Reconstruction after the Civil War, the Gilded Age was ridden with problems surrounding the countries recovery. Presidents such as Ulysses Grant and Rutherford Hayes were viewed fraudulent and incompetent leaders for the nation. Meanwhile, Congress was mostly ruled by large enterprises, allowing for little political representation of the masses. Additionally, the nation was plagued by an overwhelming amount of social issues including child labor, immigration, women and minorities, and rapid urbanization. Overpopulation was particularly troublesome for the state of democracy as most voters were

    Read More

More about The Republican Party: Overall Issues, 1860-1868

Open Document