Past Campaigns: The 1856 Republican Party Race
Tomorrow will mark the 161st anniversary of what some consider to be the birth of the national Republican Party. On June 19, 1855, a small gathering of prominent individuals who were opposed to the expansion of slavery met in Washington, D.C. where they passed a resolution about the recent abrogation of "all compromises, real or imaginary" by the opening up of the state of Missouri and the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to the possible institution of slavery. This group called itself the "Republican Association of Washington, District of Columbia". They passed a four plank platform which included the following: "There should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for the punishment of crime, in any of the Territories of the United States."
Following the meeting, a number of state organizations were soon established along similar lines. On January 17, 1856 representatives of Republican Party organizations in Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin all issued a joint call for a convention" to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1856 to formalize the national organization and to call a properly delegated national convention to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States for the November 1856 election. They elected a governing National Executive Committee and passed resolutions calling for the repeal of laws enabling slaveholding in free territories. They also resolved to resist the spread of slavery in any territory and for the defense of anti-slavery individuals in Kansas who were being attacked by supporters of slavery. They also resolved to "resist and overthrow the present National Administration of President Franklin Pierce, as it is identified with the progress of the Slave power to national supremacy."
The 22-member Republican National Committee included one representative per state attending the Pittsburgh Convention, and it met in plenary session on March 27, 1856 at Willard's Hotel in Washington, DC and issued a call for a formal presidential nominating convention. The convention was set to begin on June 17, 1856 in Philadelphia (160 years ago yesterday). Each state organization was to be allocated six at-large delegates, plus three delegates for each congressional district.
The first Republican National Convention was held in the Musical Fund Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 17 to 19, 1856. The convention approved an anti-slavery platform that called for congressional sovereignty in the territories, an end to polygamy in Mormon settlements, and federal assistance for a transcontinental railroad.
Next it turned to selection of a candidate. Those considered as candidates included John C. Frémont, a former military officer, explorer, and Senator from California. He was also the son-in-law of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. He had been sought out as a potential Democratic Party candidate but he supported those opposed to slavery in Kansas and was also against the enforcement of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. Republican leaders convinced him that he was more at home in their party.
Other candidates for the nomination included John McLean of Ohio, an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, New York Senator William Seward, Ohio Governor Salmon Chase, and Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner. All but McLean requested that their names be withdrawn. Three others were considered by the delegates: Speaker Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts, former Commodore and Military Governor Robert F. Stockton of New Jersey, and Governor William F. Johnston of Pennsylvania.
Frémont was nominated for president overwhelmingly on the first ballot. He received 359 votes, and McLean received 190. After some shifting in the ballots, Frémont received 520 votes and McLean received 37. William L. Dayton, a former Senator from New Jersey, was nominated for vice-president over former Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln.
The Democratic Party nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, the former Secretary of State. The American Party (known as the "Know Nothing Party") nominated former President Millard Fillmore on an anti-slavery platform. In the campaign for president, none of the candidates campaigned themselves, having surrogates to campaign for them. The Republican Party opposed the extension of slavery into the territories. Its slogan was "Free speech, free press, free soil, free men, Frémont and victory!" They told voters that the Slave Power was destroying republican values. They opposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise through the Kansas–Nebraska Act. The Republicans also accused the Pierce administration of allowing a fraudulent territorial government to be imposed upon the citizens of the Kansas Territory, leading to the violence that had raged in "Bleeding Kansas." They called for the immediate admittance of Kansas as a free state. They were also opposed to the annexation of Cuba from Spain.
The Democrats supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty. They supported the pro-slavery territorial legislature elected in Kansas, opposed the free-state supporters in Kansas, and called the Topeka Constitution (passed by anti-slavery Kansans) as an illegal document written during an illegal convention. The Democrats also supported the plan to annex Cuba. The Democratic campaign warned that a Republican victory would lead to the secession of numerous southern states.
Fillmore was considered to lack enough support to secure the presidency. Whigs were urged to support Buchanan. But Fillmore supporters insisted that their party was the only "national party" since the Democrats were supported mainly by southerners and slaveholders, while the Republicans were the party of northerners and abolitionists. They tried to make an issue by starting a rumor that Frémont was a Roman Catholic. The Democrats also spread the rumor and the Republicans were unable to get the message out that the statements were false.
On election day, the vote turned out differently in the free states and the slave states. In the free states, Frémont won with 45.2% of the vote to 41.5% for Buchanan and 13.3% for Fillmore Frémont received 114 electoral votes to 62 for Buchanan. In the slave states however, the contest was mainly between Buchanan and Fillmore. Buchanan won 56.1% of the vote to 43.8% for Fillmore and 0.1% for Frémont. Buchanan received 112 electoral votes to 8 for Fillmore. Nationwide, Buchanan won 174 electoral votes, Frémont received 114 and Fillmore 8. Frémont received no votes in 10 of the 14 slave states.
Democratic Party predictions of a civil war didn't happen on Frémont's watch, secession in fact began on Buchanan's.
Following the meeting, a number of state organizations were soon established along similar lines. On January 17, 1856 representatives of Republican Party organizations in Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin all issued a joint call for a convention" to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 22, 1856 to formalize the national organization and to call a properly delegated national convention to nominate candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States for the November 1856 election. They elected a governing National Executive Committee and passed resolutions calling for the repeal of laws enabling slaveholding in free territories. They also resolved to resist the spread of slavery in any territory and for the defense of anti-slavery individuals in Kansas who were being attacked by supporters of slavery. They also resolved to "resist and overthrow the present National Administration of President Franklin Pierce, as it is identified with the progress of the Slave power to national supremacy."
The 22-member Republican National Committee included one representative per state attending the Pittsburgh Convention, and it met in plenary session on March 27, 1856 at Willard's Hotel in Washington, DC and issued a call for a formal presidential nominating convention. The convention was set to begin on June 17, 1856 in Philadelphia (160 years ago yesterday). Each state organization was to be allocated six at-large delegates, plus three delegates for each congressional district.
The first Republican National Convention was held in the Musical Fund Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 17 to 19, 1856. The convention approved an anti-slavery platform that called for congressional sovereignty in the territories, an end to polygamy in Mormon settlements, and federal assistance for a transcontinental railroad.
Next it turned to selection of a candidate. Those considered as candidates included John C. Frémont, a former military officer, explorer, and Senator from California. He was also the son-in-law of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. He had been sought out as a potential Democratic Party candidate but he supported those opposed to slavery in Kansas and was also against the enforcement of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. Republican leaders convinced him that he was more at home in their party.
Other candidates for the nomination included John McLean of Ohio, an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, New York Senator William Seward, Ohio Governor Salmon Chase, and Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner. All but McLean requested that their names be withdrawn. Three others were considered by the delegates: Speaker Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts, former Commodore and Military Governor Robert F. Stockton of New Jersey, and Governor William F. Johnston of Pennsylvania.
Frémont was nominated for president overwhelmingly on the first ballot. He received 359 votes, and McLean received 190. After some shifting in the ballots, Frémont received 520 votes and McLean received 37. William L. Dayton, a former Senator from New Jersey, was nominated for vice-president over former Illinois Congressman Abraham Lincoln.
The Democratic Party nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, the former Secretary of State. The American Party (known as the "Know Nothing Party") nominated former President Millard Fillmore on an anti-slavery platform. In the campaign for president, none of the candidates campaigned themselves, having surrogates to campaign for them. The Republican Party opposed the extension of slavery into the territories. Its slogan was "Free speech, free press, free soil, free men, Frémont and victory!" They told voters that the Slave Power was destroying republican values. They opposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise through the Kansas–Nebraska Act. The Republicans also accused the Pierce administration of allowing a fraudulent territorial government to be imposed upon the citizens of the Kansas Territory, leading to the violence that had raged in "Bleeding Kansas." They called for the immediate admittance of Kansas as a free state. They were also opposed to the annexation of Cuba from Spain.
The Democrats supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty. They supported the pro-slavery territorial legislature elected in Kansas, opposed the free-state supporters in Kansas, and called the Topeka Constitution (passed by anti-slavery Kansans) as an illegal document written during an illegal convention. The Democrats also supported the plan to annex Cuba. The Democratic campaign warned that a Republican victory would lead to the secession of numerous southern states.
Fillmore was considered to lack enough support to secure the presidency. Whigs were urged to support Buchanan. But Fillmore supporters insisted that their party was the only "national party" since the Democrats were supported mainly by southerners and slaveholders, while the Republicans were the party of northerners and abolitionists. They tried to make an issue by starting a rumor that Frémont was a Roman Catholic. The Democrats also spread the rumor and the Republicans were unable to get the message out that the statements were false.
On election day, the vote turned out differently in the free states and the slave states. In the free states, Frémont won with 45.2% of the vote to 41.5% for Buchanan and 13.3% for Fillmore Frémont received 114 electoral votes to 62 for Buchanan. In the slave states however, the contest was mainly between Buchanan and Fillmore. Buchanan won 56.1% of the vote to 43.8% for Fillmore and 0.1% for Frémont. Buchanan received 112 electoral votes to 8 for Fillmore. Nationwide, Buchanan won 174 electoral votes, Frémont received 114 and Fillmore 8. Frémont received no votes in 10 of the 14 slave states.
Democratic Party predictions of a civil war didn't happen on Frémont's watch, secession in fact began on Buchanan's.