[TexanToTheCore]

Don't think the Republican party was all high and mighty over this. They did alot of bad things then, manipulating and enacting more rules, increasing gov. power greatly, probably more than had ever happened before. It wasn't until the turn of the century at least that things started switching and the Dems became the socialists.

Beg to differ. The Republican party was formed in 1854 in Ripon Wisconsin specifically to eliminate slavery. The poitical parties of the day refused to deal with this issue and we wished to do so. 11 years later, in 1865, we destroyed slavery.

[JamesP81]

Beg to differ. The Republican party was formed in 1854 in Ripon Wisconsin specifically to eliminate slavery. The poitical parties of the day refused to deal with this issue and we wished to do so. 11 years later, in 1865, we destroyed slavery.

If that's true, then Lincoln was a pretty crappy republican. He proved as such when he stated that he'd do whatever he had to to preserve the union. He said that if he could do that by freeing slaves, he would. If he could do it by not freeing slaves, he'd do that. And he said if he could do it by freeing some slaves and not freeing others, that he would also do that.

Lincoln: the original RINO.

[Verginius Rufus]

The Republican Party position was the "free soil" position. The earliest Republicans as a whole (apart from individual abolitionists in their ranks) did not claim the right to interfere with slavery in the states which had it, but were determined not to allow slavery to expand into any new areas. Stephen Douglas (D-IL) had gotten the Kansas-Nebraska Act passed, which had opened up to slavery regions formerly closed to it by the Missouri Compromise--that was the immediate cause of the rise of the Republican Party.

[the OlLine Rebel]

How come so few Northerners (presumably Republican in votes, because Lincoln won) wanted to be dragged into war over blacks/slaves (altho the real purpose for Lincoln was to "preserve the Union" - at gunpoint), then? How come the riots of New York over drafts? Doesn't sound like too many Northerners/Republicans were actually high and mighty about slavery.

[tkathy]

"Beg to differ. The Republican party was formed in 1854 in Ripon Wisconsin specifically to eliminate slavery. The poitical parties of the day refused to deal with this issue and we wished to do so. 11 years later, in 1865, we destroyed slavery."

This is a powerful argument against the democrats, whose party, both north and south, passed pro slavery and pro apartheid laws. Every single republican politician, both north and south, should mention this every time they open their mouths. (Hopefully to speak). I can't believe the reps don't make this a major political issue. The democrat party has an abysmal record.

[PeaRidge]

The Republican party was also responsible for sponsoring the Corwin Amendment that would have made slavery permanently legal and protected by the Constitution of the United States. It was passed by the US Congress in March of 1861 and endorsed by Lincoln in his first inaugural speech.