History of The Republican Party
The Republican party evolved during the 1850's when the issue of slavery forced divisions within the existing Whig and Democratic-Republican parties. A new party dedicated to states' rights and a restricted role of government in economic and social life began making history.
Alan Earl Bovay, one of the founders of the Republican Party, believed a new party should be formed to represent the interests of the North and the abolitionists. He decided to call that party "Republican" because it was a simple yet significant word synonymous with equality. Thomas Jefferson had earlier chosen "Republican" to refer to his party, which gave the name respect bearing historical significance.
Evidence indicates there were several groups across the country that met to discuss the formation of a new party. Thus, the location of the first meeting has been disputed. It is known that Whig Party defectors met privately in February 1854, in Crawfordsville, Iowa, to call for the creation of a new political party. The first public meeting was held in March of 1854 at a small church in Ripon, Wisconsin, where Alan Bovay rallied anti-slavery forces and adopted resolutions opposing the Kansas-Nebraska act.
A second meeting was held in a one story schoolhouse in Ripon on March 20, 1854. Fifty-four citizens, including three women, dissolved their local committees and chose five men to serve as the committee of the new party: Alan Bovay, Jebediah Bowen, Amos Loper, Abram Thomas and Jacob Woodruff. Said Mr. Bovay, "We went into the little meeting Whigs, Free Soilers and Democrats. We came out as the first Republicans in the Union."
In July of the same year, the "Anti-Nebraska Convention" met in a grove of oak trees in Jackson, Michigan to write a national platform and concentrate its efforts to counter the Democrat's plan to extend slavery to new territories. The new party adopted a platform, nominated candidates for state offices, and produced two anti-slavery resolutions, one of which stated, "Resolved ... in view of the necessity of battling against the scemes of an aristocracy, the most revolting and oppressive with which the Earth was ever cursed or man debased, we will cooperate and be known as Republicans."
In 1856, "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Man, Fremont!" was the slogan of the Republican Party. At its first national convention in Philadelphia, the party nominated John C. Fremont for president (Abraham Lincoln was proposed as vice-president, but Senator William L. Dayton won the nomination). Although the party lost the election to the Democrats, it captured a third of the total vote, boosting its optimism for the 1860 elections.