[Dilbert San Diego]

Remember, it took the Republican Party 36 years — starting with the 1820 Missouri compromise, followed by several disruptive movements and fractured elements — before it pulled together as a united party, agreed on a unifying platform and elected Abraham Lincoln as president.

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Can someone verify if this makes sense?

I thought the Republican Party was founded in Wisconsin in 1854, and that many of the original Republicans, including Lincoln, were former Whigs. The Whig Party dissolved in the early 1850s.

So don’t understand how she traces the Republican Party roots to the Missouri Compromise of 1820.

Maybe I missed some things in history class???

[txnativegop]

The first identifiable Republicans were in Massachusetts and New York. (At least that is what historians who study the period agree on.)

But you are correct, many Republicans were in fact former Whigs and leftovers from some smaller parties of the day.

[Mariner]

"Maybe I missed some things in history class???"

The author is one of those new-fangled types who can't help but link EVERYTHING to race.

Her unsubstantiated theory is that the grief and rage that resulted from the MO compromise later birthed the Republican Party.

Before they became evil fascists.

[gusty]

The Republican Party was founded as a direct challenge to the institution of slavery. It was a result of the tumult that started with the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Interestingly, the death of Zachery Taylor delayed the inevitable by 10 years. In the run up to the Compromise of 1850, Taylor was ready to go to war at that time, but was prevented by his death. His successor Millard Fillmore was more interested in working out a deal than Taylor was.