Home CHAPTER ONE. The Ideology of the Republican Party
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

CHAPTER ONE. The Ideology of the Republican Party

View more publications by University of Pennsylvania Press
To Publisher Page
The Birth of the Grand Old Party
This chapter is in the book The Birth of the Grand Old Party
In August 2000, the Republican party gathered in Philadelphia for itsnational convention, and nominated George W. Bush for president. Fewdelegates realized that the party’s first national nominating convention,in 1856, also took place in the City of Brotherly Love. But that partywas a far different institution from its counterpart today. The sight of aRepublican presidential candidate from Texas and a Republican leaderof the Senate from Mississippi would certainly have surprised the party’sfounders. So too would the sight of the party that saved the Unionand emancipated the slaves embracing the Old South’s doctrine of statesovereignty and expressing deep hostility to civil rights enforcement,to affirmative action—indeed, to any measures that seek to redressthe enduring consequences of slavery and segregation. Nonetheless,in some ways we still live in a world shaped by the achievements of theearly Republican party—the destruction of slavery, preservation of theUnion, and establishment of a national principle of equal rights for allAmericans.In my first book, I argued that the key unifying principle of theRepublican party before the Civil War was opposition to the expansionof slavery.1Few Republicans, to be sure, should be classified as abolition-ists—critics of slavery who called for immediate emancipation and equalrights for black Americans. The abolitionists never commanded morethan a small fraction of the northern public. But they helped create apublic opinion hostile to slavery and especially to its further expansion.When Congress in 1854approved the Kansas-Nebraska Act, repeal-ing the Missouri Compromise and opening a vast new area in the nation’sheartland to slavery, party lines shattered and a new organization, theCHAPTER ONEThe Ideology of the Republican PartyEric Foner

In August 2000, the Republican party gathered in Philadelphia for itsnational convention, and nominated George W. Bush for president. Fewdelegates realized that the party’s first national nominating convention,in 1856, also took place in the City of Brotherly Love. But that partywas a far different institution from its counterpart today. The sight of aRepublican presidential candidate from Texas and a Republican leaderof the Senate from Mississippi would certainly have surprised the party’sfounders. So too would the sight of the party that saved the Unionand emancipated the slaves embracing the Old South’s doctrine of statesovereignty and expressing deep hostility to civil rights enforcement,to affirmative action—indeed, to any measures that seek to redressthe enduring consequences of slavery and segregation. Nonetheless,in some ways we still live in a world shaped by the achievements of theearly Republican party—the destruction of slavery, preservation of theUnion, and establishment of a national principle of equal rights for allAmericans.In my first book, I argued that the key unifying principle of theRepublican party before the Civil War was opposition to the expansionof slavery.1Few Republicans, to be sure, should be classified as abolition-ists—critics of slavery who called for immediate emancipation and equalrights for black Americans. The abolitionists never commanded morethan a small fraction of the northern public. But they helped create apublic opinion hostile to slavery and especially to its further expansion.When Congress in 1854approved the Kansas-Nebraska Act, repeal-ing the Missouri Compromise and opening a vast new area in the nation’sheartland to slavery, party lines shattered and a new organization, theCHAPTER ONEThe Ideology of the Republican PartyEric Foner

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. CHAPTER ONE. The Ideology of the Republican Party 8
  6. CHAPTER TWO. Making and Mobilizing the Republican Party, 1854–1860 29
  7. CHAPTER THREE. War Is the Health of the Party: Republicans in the American Civil War 60
  8. The Genesis and Growth of the Republican Party: A Brief History 81
  9. CHAPTER FOUR. Politics Purified: Religion and the Growth of Antislavery Idealism in Republican Ideology During the Civil War 103
  10. CHAPTER FIVE. Defining Postwar Republicanism: Congressional Republicans and the Boundaries of Citizenship 128
  11. Afterword 167
  12. Notes 171
  13. Select Bibliography 187
  14. Contributors 193
  15. Index 195
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812206654.8

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. CHAPTER ONE. The Ideology of the Republican Party 8
  6. CHAPTER TWO. Making and Mobilizing the Republican Party, 1854–1860 29
  7. CHAPTER THREE. War Is the Health of the Party: Republicans in the American Civil War 60
  8. The Genesis and Growth of the Republican Party: A Brief History 81
  9. CHAPTER FOUR. Politics Purified: Religion and the Growth of Antislavery Idealism in Republican Ideology During the Civil War 103
  10. CHAPTER FIVE. Defining Postwar Republicanism: Congressional Republicans and the Boundaries of Citizenship 128
  11. Afterword 167
  12. Notes 171
  13. Select Bibliography 187
  14. Contributors 193
  15. Index 195
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 23.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.9783/9780812206654.8/html?licenseType=restricted&srsltid=AfmBOoqCCvNH6TTwooHja1PZBnhsKzoQcXktPOCW_nBg2ZxHp5Iolzm3
Scroll to top button